It’s ridiculous that these won’t be operational until Spring 2026, but once this payment system is up and running and everyone gets used to just scanning their phone, this will be such a better experience.
It’s ridiculous that these won’t be operational until Spring 2026, but once this payment system is up and running and everyone gets used to just scanning their phone, this will be such a better experience.
You have to understand that it is not a payment system but a validating machine that is integrated with gates. I use it on buses all the time and they are pretty sleek. I continue purchase my fare in the transit app.
It’s ridiculous that these won’t be operational until Spring 2026, but once this payment system is up and running and everyone gets used to just scanning their phone, this will be such a better experience.
You have to understand that it is not a payment system but a validating machine that is integrated with gates. I use it on buses all the time and they are pretty sleek. I continue purchase my fare in the transit app.
Metro has five of the new ticket machines undergoing testing, three in Missouri and two in Illinois
Is there a verification that the credit card that verifies a credit card? Owner of credit card zipcode required?
Metro has five of the new ticket machines undergoing testing, three in Missouri and two in Illinois
Is there a verification that the credit card that verifies a credit card? Owner of credit card zipcode required?
I doubt it. It's probably like 99% of payment terminals that allow you to just tap your card or insert the chip.
iPhone users, assign a debit/credit card as "Express Transit" in Apple Wallet. This feature means you don't have to double click to activate payment, just swipe your phone over the sensor. Same can be done on Apple Watch. Swiping with your Watch to open the gates feels year 3000. You can also do this with transit cards once Metro has their "Ride On" option available.
They have that on NY subways. My daughter lives there. She set my card to express transit — already in all iPhones, and the phone did it all with a swipe. Couldn’t be easier.
I tried using them at 8th and Pine yesterday. A friend was visiting. I bought a ticket on the app (because I already set it up) and he tried to buy one from the machine. The machine was so unresponsive that I was sure it wasn't working. It took like 5 loooonnngg seconds after every tap for the tap to register (you could see a little circle icon where you tapped, so it's not like it wasn't sensing it..it just took that long to get to the next screen). The payment reader failed on tap, and then took two tries with the chip. When the ticket finally printed out, he went first with the QR code and tried to scan it. It absolutely did not work; we both tried several times each. I finally used my phone and opened the gate for both of us.
It's as though Metro has absolutely no shame or ability to self reflect on their failures.
I tried using them at 8th and Pine yesterday. A friend was visiting. I bought a ticket on the app (because I already set it up) and he tried to buy one from the machine. The machine was so unresponsive that I was sure it wasn't working. It took like 5 loooonnngg seconds after every tap for the tap to register (you could see a little circle icon where you tapped, so it's not like it wasn't sensing it..it just took that long to get to the next screen). The payment reader failed on tap, and then took two tries with the chip. When the ticket finally printed out, he went first with the QR code and tried to scan it. It absolutely did not work; we both tried several times each. I finally used my phone and opened the gate for both of us.
It's as though Metro has absolutely no shame or ability to self reflect on their failures.
Just remember that it's ALWAYS your fault and Metro is NEVER wrong.
They worked for me when I went downtown a couple of weeks ago, but then I couldn't get my pass to come back up on the ap to scan it on the blinking bus. (My phone closed while I was waiting for a transfer and for whatever reason I couldn't get signal in anything like a timely manner.) The driver did me a solid, but I felt like complete poop. The whole thing is endlessly annoying. By and in large I love the ap and hate hate hate the gates. (They are so incredibly prison like. So slow, and so ugly.) But they did technically (technically) work last time I took them. Small sample statistics and all that.
Someone I work with said they had issues getting the gate to open.
I take Metrolink when I go into the office, and I’ve had a couple of occasions where the gate didn’t open. When I went to rescan my pass, a loud fail sound happens. Thankfully other riders came up behind me and it worked on their pass. Other times, there can be a big delay with the gate opening after scanning the pass. So far the gate issues have happened at the CWE station where there is constant traffic - I’m not sure what to do if the gate completely fails to open and there’s no one around.
And I totally agree that these gates are hideous. The Metrolink system actually has some nice design touches, but these gates are not that.