Q: If my city wants to use public transport, then why can I pay for parking my car with my debit or credit card, but can’t I use public transport?
Jean-Pierre Galarneau
A: Your question is timely, because the ARTM is currently carrying out an experiment on the territory of the STL, in Laval. It currently accepts payments by Visa and Mastercard and, from the start of 2022, it will also be possible to pay with a debit card. Next year, all of these payment methods will also be extended to the STL’s bus network.
In addition, the ARTM explains that payment with most contactless payment applications on smartphones is now possible in Laval.
We are promised a timetable for implementation in the various public transport networks in the metropolitan region.
Since September, the ARTM has been carrying out another experiment, this time allowing the purchase and addition of titles using a smartphone. The ARTM plans to go to a call for tenders in the second quarter of 2022 in order to offer the solution to all users in the region using the application. Chrono. Another option, the OPUS reader, launched in 2015. More than 68,000 copies have been sold since the launch.
Finally, at the STM, we are reminded that we can also use a debit-credit card at the counter (or lodge, to use the vocabulary of the STM). We will also change the bank keyboards of the ticket vending machines (the orange terminals) which will therefore allow the purchase of contactless tickets.