{"id":817,"date":"2008-04-21T17:01:40","date_gmt":"2008-04-21T22:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingmontreal.ca\/2008\/04\/21\/meet-opus-smart-card-launch-part-ii\/"},"modified":"2008-04-21T17:01:40","modified_gmt":"2008-04-21T22:01:40","slug":"meet-opus-smart-card-launch-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2008\/04\/21\/meet-opus-smart-card-launch-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Opus: smart card &#8220;launch&#8221; part II"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2400\/2329736015_70e36d64f3.jpg\" title=\"Metro\" alt=\"Metro\" height=\"334\" width=\"500\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The new smart card is being launched today&#8230;but may not be available until September.<span>  <\/span>Although the Gazette published an article about the launch with a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.canada.com\/montrealgazette\/news\/story.html?id=9371a55a-c368-4737-9f14-118b0496dbc8&amp;k=2078\" title=\"MTC gets 'smart'\">photo of a smart-card being used<\/a>, according to various STM info sources  the card will be available either in July or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carteopus.info\/en\/para%5Fnav\/press\/announcement\/\" title=\"Smart card release\">the fall<\/a><span style=\"background-color: #ffff66\"><\/span>.  Magnetic-strip ticket cards, different from the re-useable Opus card, are now available for purchase<a href=\"http:\/\/www.billetsalacarte.info\/en\/main-nav\/where-to\/\" title=\"Magnetic strip ticket sales\"> at some locations<\/a>.<span>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p>As already discussed <a href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2008\/04\/15\/the-great-fare-evasion-scandal\/\" title=\"Fare evasion scandal\">on this site<\/a>, the infrastructure for this new system of transit payment has been slowly appearing throughout our public transit system over the last few years &#8211; <span style=\"background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial\"><span style=\"background-color: #ffffff\">and that is what is now operational<\/span><\/span>. One of the big selling points of this technology is its role in <a href=\"http:\/\/stm.info\/English\/info\/smartcard2008-QA.htm\" title=\"STM info\">limiting fare-evasion<\/a><span style=\"background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial\"><\/span>, but equally important is the efficiency of the system.<span>  <\/span>The <a href=\"http:\/\/stm.info\/English\/info\/smartcard2008-QA.htm\" title=\"STM info\">contactless card<\/a> <span style=\"background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial\"><\/span>will allow riders to use their cards without digging them out of their pockets, purses, and backpacks &#8211; which is especially lengthy when that involves stripping off mitts or gloves\u2026or balancing your morning coffee.<span>  <\/span>It&#8217;s worth noting that one of the often cited elements of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Curitiba#Urban_Planning\" title=\"Curitiba\">Curitiba&#8217;s<\/a> (every novice planner&#8217;s favourite city) public transit success was making boarding faster and easier.<\/p>\n<p>However not everything about the Opus card is rosy.<span>  <\/span>The STCUM has said that there will be <a href=\"http:\/\/stm.info\/English\/info\/smartcard2008-QA.htm\" title=\"STM info\">no fare-change<\/a> associated with the smart-cards, despite the fact that riders will be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carteopus.info\/en\/para%5Fnav\/press\/announcement\/\" title=\"Carteopus Info\">charged $3.50<\/a> for the Opus card. Furthermore, after the &#8220;deployment period&#8221; ends in June 2009, the price of the smart card <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carteopus.info\/en\/para%5Fnav\/press\/announcement\/\" title=\"carteopus Info\">will be $7<\/a>. In contrast, Boston encourages riders to use the rechargeable Charlie card by making single ride fares added to the Charlie card <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mbta.com\/fares_and_passes\/\" title=\"Charlie card\">cheaper than ticketed fares<\/a><span style=\"background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial\"><\/span>.<span>  <\/span>Even though only<a href=\"http:\/\/stm.info\/English\/info\/smartcard2008-QA.htm\" title=\"STM info\"> 16% of STM riders use tickets or cash<\/a><span style=\"background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial\"><\/span>, encouraging the switch to a re-useable card can still play a significant role in resource use and boarding times.<\/p>\n<p>The ultimate plan for fare collection on buses doesn&#8217;t seem to have changed, but this remains unclear.<span>  <\/span>According to the STM site, riders will still be able to pay their bus fare <a href=\"http:\/\/stm.info\/English\/info\/smartcard2008-QA.htm\" title=\"STM info\">in cash<\/a><span style=\"background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial\"><\/span>. Yet the Gazette cites STM spokesperson Odile Paradis as saying that the new system will<a href=\"http:\/\/www.canada.com\/components\/print.aspx?id=d76a3d61-d9c2-4573-a4e4-ccc7f4ee64fd\" title=\"Keeping up with stile changes\"> eliminate bus drivers from the fare collection process<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>These little contradictions and possibly unmade decisions will, over time, probably become our new favourite points to pick at the STM about.<span>  <\/span>But for now, pick up a magnetic ticket card <a href=\"http:\/\/www.billetsalacarte.info\/en\/main-nav\/where-to\/\" title=\"Magnetic strip ticket sales\">where you can<\/a>, or an Opus card in July or September, and enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo by Cedric Sam<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new smart card is being launched today&#8230;but may not be available until September. Although the Gazette published an article about the launch with a photo of a smart-card being used, according to various STM info sources the card will be available either in July or the fall. Magnetic-strip ticket cards, different from the re-useable<a href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2008\/04\/21\/meet-opus-smart-card-launch-part-ii\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;Meet Opus: smart card &#8220;launch&#8221; part II&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5029,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1066,333,2259,2258,2148,805,1158,420,302],"class_list":["post-817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-transit","tag-boston","tag-cedric-sam","tag-curitiba","tag-novice-planner","tag-odile-paradis","tag-smart-card","tag-spokesperson","tag-stm","tag-usd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meet Opus: smart card &quot;launch&quot; part II - Spacing Montreal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2008\/04\/21\/meet-opus-smart-card-launch-part-ii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet Opus: smart card &quot;launch&quot; part II - Spacing Montreal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The new smart card is being launched today&#8230;but may not be available until September. Although the Gazette published an article about the launch with a photo of a smart-card being used, according to various STM info sources the card will be available either in July or the fall. 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