Tapping smartphone to board Montreal transit system being tested
Posted May 27, 2025 1:14 pm.
Montreal public transit users might be able to board the bus or Metro with just a tap of their smartphone starting later this year.
The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) confirmed it will begin testing a new mobile feature this summer with a limited group of users.
Testing will take place in waves as part of an alpha phase, which will run through the summer and into the fall, Maxime Riopel a spokesperson with ARTM, wrote in an email to CityNews.
It will begin with ARTM employees before expanding to select members of the Let’s Talk Mobility panel. Participants will be able to download the feature through the Chrono app, purchase and load fares, and validate them using their smartphone on the existing network devices.
Each wave will bring in more participants, with the total test group expected to include more than 10,000 people before the feature is made available to the public.
A beta version of the solution is planned for gradual release starting in late fall, depending on the outcome of the alpha testing phase.
ARTM emphasized the new feature is not a digital replica of the physical OPUS card. Fares loaded onto the Chrono app will not be linked to existing OPUS cards due to current system limitations.
