“Transit tickets have been showing up in our Google Pay APK teardowns since October of last year, finally appearing for the first time with support for the Las Vegas Monorail. The premise is simple: instead of having to purchase a physical ticket and topping it up for public transportation, users can tap their NFC-enabled phones against the terminal and use a sort of ‘virtual card’ instead. After it was unveiled that Google Pay would soon support public transit in Portland, Oregon, it is now possible to use the Hop Fastpass app to ride on TriMet, C-TRAN buses, MAX light rail trains, WES commuter rail trains, Portland Streetcar, and C-TRAN’s Vine Rapid Transit with Google Pay.”

“For years, Metro riders have been required to purchase a SmarTrip card to ride the rail or buses. Starting next year, they can pay with their smartphones. Metro is taking steps to allow riders pay for their trip using their cell phones. The transit company announced Tuesday that it is working on an app that allows people to pay and manage their SmarTrip account from anywhere.”

“Metro today announced that it is working with its fare payment vendor to become “mobile ready” by next year, enabling customers to pay for their Metro trip using a mobile device rather than a SmarTrip card. As part Metro’s initiative to upgrade its fare collection system, Metro is also developing a new fare payment app that will allow customers a quick and easy way to pay and manage their SmarTrip account from anywhere. “

“Current discussions around MaaS, dominated by commercial mobility service providers, propagates a vision of future mobility that does not adequately address the many issues faced by cities today, such as congestion, density, safety, security, social inclusion and a need for integrated regulation, coordination and policy.”