The STM released the new Opus transit cards in August. These cards are now replacing the old bus/metro/train passes and claim to be more efficient due to the fact that it reduces waste because the card is good for 2 years and because you can “charge [the] card with various transit fares, according to [your] needs. For example, [one] could charge it with six STM tickets, eight STL bus tickets and an AMT zone 3 TRAM pass.”
However just getting the basic information about this card is practically impossible. Even though The STM website has a fact sheet about this new card it’s very confusing and hard to find what it is exactly you want to know.
After clicking on the large opus icon in the middle of the STM homepage a page with a bunch of headers pops up. Under the students’ link it says that if “You are between 18 and 25 years old (STM and RTL only) and are a Montréal island resident or an RTL client; Are over the age of 17 and under the age of 26 at October 31 of current year” you qualify for reduced fare. If you are between 18 and 21 years old and study full-time at an institution recognized by the MELS; are over the age of 17 and under the age of 22 at October 31 of current year you qualify for STL and AMT intermediate fares.”
With the change of cards there has also been a change in fares. All fares have gone up in price. For example student Zone 2 train pass costs 72.00 a month. That’s up from 54.00. Also for anyone over 18 six tickets cost 15.00 instead of 12.00 and one bus ticket is now 3.25. That’s a one dollar and fifty cent increase.
The STM has also changed the wording of everything. Now TRAM 2 is what we call the old ZONE 2 and a transfer is now called a "Support Conforme."
Some other problems were encountered when people tried to add fares onto their Opus cards. Teenaged kids who work at pharmacies and depaneurs don’t know how to load the card because there just teenaged kids not technical support people.
Here are some testimonies from people who have purchased the new opus card (or, well, tired too)
“I got a lot of problems today with [the opus card] and it cost me 2 x 3,50$ = 7$ because the card that they sell me was virgin (uninitialized) so wait a few month until those bugs are fixed before buying the Opus Card.”
“First attempt to re-load my opus with a July monthly RTL pass was a failure. The owner of the depanneur was apparently given the terminal with a French only set up manual, and had set it up incorrectly (The dep was in an area of Brossard where the population is mainly Hong Kong diaspora)... I gave up and left after he waited 10 minutes for technical support to answer . Bilingual manuals would have been a really good thought.”
-Mike
“It is not a language barrier, it a knowledge barrier! I have also got problem within depanneur, pharmacies and other type of convenient store and they speaks French, so trust me it is not a matter of language its a matter of proper training of the cashiers that makes the system so unreliable.”
”The Opus card works great with bus and metro reader. But the recharge system is a pain in the a%&. I think is worst when you try to buy them outside of a transit company like RTL, STL-Laval, STM or AMT.”
To read more testimonies and facts about OPUS:
http://www.cptdb.ca/index.php?showtopic=3637&st=280
www.stcum.qc.ca
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