Comments on: CAM stop the music

By: Fagstein

Fagstein — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:19:27 +0000

Just stick it into an Opus machine and it will tell you.

By: Hans de Nie

Hans de Nie — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:58:33 +0000

Please let me know where I can buy a card decoder ring so I can check myself what is the status of my opus card .
Thanks

Hans

By: Sebastien

Sebastien — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:19:16 +0000

I overheard an AMT agent explaining why we must validate the TRAM OPUS card at least once a month. "The card can hold a maximum of 4 monthly passes. Validating the card once a month ensures that the old passes get discarded." From what I understand, this only applies to people who registered to the TRAM auto-renewal program. Because if you buy it every month at the machine, old passes get discarded at this time. Now, I'm still unsatisfied with this explanation. If they can "add" a pass remotely without you validating the card, that means they can also "delete" a pass remotely. I would think so.

By: Jean Naimard

Jean Naimard — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:47:54 +0000

“L’usager qui détient un titre mensuel sur sa carte OPUS doit s’assurer que sa carte est chargée d’un titre de transport valide requis pour faire le trajet. De plus, il doit prendre l’habitude de valider son passage au valideur situé à chaque gare de trains de banlieue au moins une fois pendant le mois. ”

“At least once a month”… It surely doesn’t say that it has to be done at some time in particular, be it at the beginning or at the end of the month…

By: Sebastien

Sebastien — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:51:44 +0000

I read on the AMT web site that users of a monthly train OPUS pass must validate the card at least once during the month. Do you have any idea why? Will I get a fine if I get controled and I haven't validated the card? I mean it's a monthly pass, it's not like a ticket. If I don't validate it, it's not like I can extend its usage.

"L’usager qui détient un titre mensuel sur sa carte OPUS doit s’assurer que sa carte est chargée d’un titre de transport valide requis pour faire le trajet. De plus, il doit prendre l’habitude de valider son passage au valideur situé à chaque gare de trains de banlieue au moins une fois pendant le mois. "
http://www.amt.qc.ca/tc/opus/avantages/index.asp

By: Alex T.

Alex T. — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:31:28 +0000

Didn't I read somewhere that someone jokingly called OPUS

Over Priced Usually Standing

Making reference to standing in the bus/metro which has nothing to do with OPUS itself.

By: guillaume

guillaume — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:24:01 +0000

About the registration of the opus card, when done it is really helpful. I lost my card once and was happy that my card was registered. Opus is good if you are an occasional user of more than one agency. In school time I"ve got my CITL monthly pass a couple of STL tickets and at least 2 Laval metro tickets. having only 1 card is great.

In the automn of 2007 before the start off opus card, someone from the STL came in class (I study transportation) and talked to us about the Opus. On the slideshow, there were much more design (maybe later when we'll be charged 10 bucks for the card)

By: Jean Naimard

Jean Naimard — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:53:19 +0000

The OPUS IS ugly. What the hell does OPUS mean anyway?

Opus is a very bad pun that can backfire horribly: although it is latin for “work”, it sounds like «carte à puce» (opus — get it?), meaning “smart card” (literally: “card with [electronic] chip”). But it is phonetically equivalent to «aux puces», which means “with [some] fleas”. And fleas are little bugs, as you know…
So one couls contrive that “Opus” means “buggy card” without too much of a leap (pun intended).

By: allisonshine

allisonshine — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:23:54 +0000

Nice to see that I'm not the only one who collected my bus/train passes over the many years I've been a transit user.

The OPUS IS ugly. What the hell does OPUS mean anyway?

My OPUS with had an expensive AMT pass on it stopped working. They exchanged it for me for free.

My husband also had an OPUS that stopped working. He had his exchanged for free also. So, no need to by another card.

By: CJ

CJ — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:58:21 +0000

I use the Lasalle Metro station every morning to go to work. Apart from the fact that the station only has one machine - meaning a long LONG - LOOOONGGGG - wait in line if you forget to load your card before the morning of the 1st - I have also noticed that the readers on the turnstiles don't seem to work as well as they first did - or else my card doesn't work as well.

When I first got the card I could pass my wallet over the reader and it would work. Now I have to remove the card from the wallet completely.

I really wish STM would have followed the NYC system. I love their their transit passes.

By: jennyb

jennyb — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:47:50 +0000

sorry for the late comment, but I have to tell you to buy one of the plastic "thingies" some people have to put thei Opus in.
I refused to, they are ugly and made of plastic, but then the "little antenna" (the term the lady at the Berri counter used, not mine) in the card broke and the card would just not get read well and then stopped working all together. for good. I had to go change the card at Berri, and 2 of my friends did too.
Apparently, the card should not be curved, bent, or otherwise suffer any pressure (gosh, I wonder what happens when you put it in your pockets...) or the connection in it breaks . Hence, the solid plastic "thingy".
so there!

By: SMS

SMS — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:46:17 +0000

Nice mugshot Fagstein!

By: Christopher

Christopher — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:47:04 +0000

When will I be able to buy a freaking TRAM from a kiosk?

Two months ago, when I had to recharge my OPUS card for the first time, I tried kiosks at 3 different AMT stations before I gave up and took time out of my day to the customer service desk at Central station where they admitted that only zone 1, 2 and 3 train passes are available for purchase at the kiosks. So I had them recharge my OPUS by hand.

Last month, I tried recharging it again from the kiosks but still no go. This time, I went to the cafe at the Deux-Montagnes station to purchase my zone 5 TRAM.

Any idea if this month I'll be able to buy my TRAM from a kiosk?

There are kiosks at every AMT station. Why do I have to go out of my way to purchase my TRAM from a cashier when I could easily recharge my OPUS card while waiting for the train?

By: T

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:53:15 +0000

I find it odd that no one has complained about the poor quality of the cards themselves. I did not buy a plastic cover for my card, and with nine months of normal use (I'm a student and had to get one in October), the card no longer scans properly, as the chip has become loose, causing my average bus-embarking time to rise to around thirty seconds as opposed to my ten-second walk-on with the CAM. The metro system in Paris, which uses similar technology, is able to read cards stored in people's handbags, yet I daily see frustrated commuters having to pull them out of their wallets after they won't scan through the leather. Worse, I will soon have to pay to replace my card - and I have not been hard on it - and then pay for another when it expires in October. The system is a good idea, but I feel that its many kinks will lead to major headaches in the future.

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:40:59 +0000

Great article! This sucks for reduced-fare users who want to have STM tickets and AMT TRAM tickets on their card at the same time though.

By: Bickerbros

Bickerbros — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:25:07 +0000

Does the OPUS still have the ridiculous STM policy of a weekly pass that's only valid from Monday to Sunday? If you wanted to buy one on Thursday, it would be a complete waste of money. In NYC, the weekly pass actually lasts 7 days from the time of purchase. Revolutionary!

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:28:32 +0000

You can also register a regular Opus card at the info kiosk at Jean-Talon station

By: Fagstein

Fagstein — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:21:39 +0000

Under the new Opus system, it should be fairly easy to create new types of fares and passes, so hopefully that will change in the coming years.

By: Michel K

Michel K — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:00:28 +0000

A little off-topic, but I find it terrible that you can't buy a day pass at any Metro station at any time of year. They're sold at selected stations from April to October. From November to March if you want one, you have to venture down to Berri-UQAM or Bonaventure. A big difference compared to when I go to Toronto and I can buy a pass to hop on and off the subway and streetcar all day as I please.

By: mare

mare — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:26:27 +0000

Interesting shot of those cut-in-half paper tickets from the old turnstile. That way they can't be reused, unlike the ones in the boxes (if you somewho managed to lay your hand on them.

I have a OPUS decoder ring. I'll have to blog about that. But in the summer I bike everywhere so I hardly use the metro/bus. You should too!