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Transit officials in Greater Montreal have moved one step closer to allowing users to recharge their Opus cards with their phones.
Some Android phone users are now able to buy new fares by credit or debit card and load them onto an Opus card through the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain’s Chrono application, ARTM spokesperson Isabella Brisson-Urdaneta said Wednesday.
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The limited rollout of the update is designed to allow ARTM technicians to evaluate how the app is faring and fix any potential issues, she said.
“We’re still in a test phase,” Brisson-Urdaneta said. “Some people have the update that allows them to recharge their Opus card on their phone, but it only works with Android. Our technical team is monitoring how the app is reacting but it’s not available widely yet and it’s not yet available on (Apple’s) iOS” operating system, she said.
Some users have been testing the new functionality for several months.
A full-scale rollout of the updated app should be announced in the coming weeks, according to Brisson-Urdaneta. She wouldn’t provide specifics.
The launch of the new application will mean the end of the Opus en ligne service, that allows people to recharge their cards using special readers attached to their computers. The service will terminate on June 30. “Technologies are rapidly evolving, and keeping the Opus en ligne website operational in order to reload transit fares online would require major investments,” the service’s website says.
Opus is used by the Montreal, Laval, Longueuil and Quebec City transit agencies as well as Exo.
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