On: The tiny chip that powers Montreal subway tickets

[lbourdages]

These single use tickets are used essentially only by tourists and those who use public transport only on occasion.

The vast majority of users will use rechargeable Opus cards [1] that can contain a variety of different fare types (single tickets, monthly tickets, etc).

From an operator's point of view it definitely makes sense to only have to maintain one type of reader, even if that means losing a few cents profit on the low single digit percent of rides that use the disposable tickets.

[1] https://www.stm.info/en/info/fares/opus-cards-and-other-fare...

[idunnoman1222 → lbourdages]

That’s not true in Montreal if you buy a single ride you get a paper ticket with a magnetic stripe that you feed into a completely different reader.

[lbourdages → idunnoman1222]

I've never seen these mag tickets, the ticket machines all give out Occasionnelle cards even for 1 ticket. Maybe if you walk up to the clerk?