The name of the card in French, Carte Opus, is a pun on the word in French for smart cards with embedded chips, carte à puce.[6]
History
Prior to Opus
When the Montreal metro opened on October 14, 1966, the Commission de transport de Montréal (predecessor to the current Société de transport de Montréal, or STM) introduced a magnetic stripe to its tickets that could be read by its turnstiles and inspected visually when boarding buses.[7] Transfers were stamped onto paper by machines within metro stations and on buses. In 1982 magnetic stripes were added to the local monthly pass, the Carte autobus-métro or CAM card, and then to regional transit passes as they were created, such as the TRAM (TRain, Autobus, Métro) card in 1998.[8][9]
By 2008, it was estimated that fraud from the current ticketing system cost the STM alone $20 millon in lost revenue, and that a smart card system could reduce that by half.[10] To prevent fraud, the Opus card won't work re-tapped five minutes after being tapped.[11]
Transit agencies, led by the STM, began work on the project building the Opus platform in 2000. Testing began in 2005. Turnstiles that incorporate the reader and vending machines were installed in Metro stations; buses had previously been fitted with new fare boxes that incorporate the card reader, in order to ensure the uniformity of methods of payment across Montreal’s transit network and that of its suburbs.[12]
Q4 2008 – Deployed for students on all STM, STL and RTL as well as AMT TRAM users.
Late Q4 2008 – Deployed for all regular fare users of all three transit authorities as well as Exo TRAM users.
Q2 2009 – Start of deployment for users of Conseil intermunicipaux de transport (CIT) buses (predecessors of the Exo bus services).
Q2 2010 – End of deployment for users of CIT systems.[12]
In all, the project cost $217 million to implement, including $169 million for the STM.[10] The project was originally supposed to be implemented in 2006.[citation needed]
Since the reorganization of public transport governance in metropolitan Montreal came into effect on June 1, 2017, the Opus ticketing system has been the property of the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), which has entrusted its management to the STM.[15]
Project Concerto
On June 5, 2018, the STM announced a new project named "Céleste" that would provide an account-based fare system that would work with public transit, Bixi, carsharing platforms and taxis. Fare capping would be applied automatically, and fare collection could be done by tapping either an Opus card, smartphone or smart watch. The ARTM having only been created a year prior, the STM decides to move ahead without them and to bring into the project when they're ready.[16]
In 2019 the STM tested both passing a turnstile with an Android phone and reloading an Opus card by smartphone. In October, however, the ARTM comes with a legal opinion stating the business model for Céleste is illegal. Project Céleste is halted.[17]
In 2021, the ARTM launched a new digital mobility project, with a call for vendors to provide services.[17][18] Project Concerto, as its name is announced in 2023, seeks to enable:[19]
Reloading Opus cards from a smartphone. This is delivered in April 2024.[20]
Paying fares directly by tapping a debit credit card. A pilot project is launcehd with the STL and Exo bus network on the North shore in 2024.[21]
Allow account-based ticketing. After two unsuccessful calls for offers from vendors, who complain of onerous stipulations, the ARTM launches a third call in October 2024 with reduced requirements.[17][22] Tests have begun in May 2025.[23]
Card types
Three ARTM fare cards from March 2025, side by side: a plastic reloadable RFID Opus card, a cardboard RFID L'occasionnelle card, and a cardboard magnetic stripe single-use Zone A fare card
The Opus system is card-based and not account-based. This allows fare control systems on buses or stations to operate without a live internet connection.[12]
Reloadable Opus card
Durable plastic reloadable cards can hold up to four types of fares simultaneously and can be reloaded as long as its valid. In general, a new Opus card costs CAD$6. They can last up to seven years but, depending on the type, can expire after as little as one year. Reduced fares (e.g. children, students or seniors) will require you to have a designated OPUS card with photo ID printed on it that cost more.[24][25][26]
When the ARTM introduced new fare zones in Greater Montreal in 2023, technical constraints prevented fares covering different zones from appearing on the same physical Opus card. The ARTM now sells designated All Modes AB, ABC, ABCD cards.[24]
Paper cards
Certain limited-use fares can be purchased on cardboard smartcarts called L'Occassionnelle in Greater Montreal and Occassionnelle in Quebec City area. They can hold bundles of ticket but are single-use in that can't be reloaded.[27][28]
The STM still supports the magnetic stripe cards for single fares or transfers from buses.[29] These cards can be used anywhere in Zone A, but must be validated and stamped with a date and time in an STM bus or metro before using on another agency's network in the zone.
Unlike other transit cards, such as Presto (Ontario) and Compass (Metro Vancouver), the Opus is not a stored-value system; the card stores tickets and passes, not a dollar value.[citation needed]
Points of sale
Vending machines that sell or refill Opus cards
Typical vending machine (left) and recharging station (right) inside the Cartier Metro station.
Opus and Occasionnelle cards are available at various points of sale where local transit fares are currently sold. Opus with photo ID cards are only available from certain locations managed by agencies.[24][30][26]
Automated ticketing machines that refill Opus cards and sell Occasionnelle cards stations can be found at Montreal Metro, REM and train stations, metropolitan bus terminals, as well as from specified retailers where local transit fares are sold.
Since 1 April 2024[31] transit users can reload fares on their physical Opus card using their phone's NFC reader using their agency's mobile app.[32]
Fare collection
Fare collection card readers
Card reader built into an fare gate at Brossard station on the REM.
For commuter rail in Montreal, passengers must validate their Opus card either on the platform or at the door leading to the platform.[35]
On buses, validation is done upon boarding using a validator terminal installed at the front of the vehicle near the driver.[35] STM also has validators at the rear doors of articulated buses only.[36]
For paratransit services, passengers must present their photo Opus card when boarding.[37]
The initial project included local suburban bus transit agencies outside of Montreal and the Agence métropolitaine de transport, that was responsible for the Montreal commuter rail network. These services have now all been rolled into Exo.
Bixi supported Opus cards from 2017 to 2021 for one-way trips if you linked your card to your Bixi account.[45][46]
Criticisms
The Opus card has been widely criticized for its lack of stored-value capability and for being able to load only four types of tickets/passes simultaneously, factors that significantly reduce the capability and flexibility that would have otherwise been gained from a stored-value system.[citation needed]
Personal card reader for reloading Opus cards using the contact interface
When the STM unveiled its USB card reader for loading fares at home in 2015, it was already derided for appearing archaic and not leveraging smartphone technology.[47] In August 2023, a McGill student published code for an Android app that can use a phone's NFC capability and an Opus en ligne account to load new fares on an Opus card instead of using the dedicated USB reader. The ARTM quickly asked him to retract his code base[48] and did not publish a similar service until April 2024.[31]
↑ Péloquin, Tristan; Ouellette-Véina, Henri (2023-08-22). "Un étudiant dame le pion à l'ARTM"[A student outsmarts the ARTM]. La Presse (in French). Montreal. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Typical vending machine (left) and recharging station (right) inside the Cartier Metro station.
Touchscreen vending machine in Panama REM station.
