The Community of Madrid officially activates this Tuesday the digitization of the public transport card and with it the possibility of validating tickets to access the subway and buses with the phone. At the moment, it is a new functionality with limitations: it only reaches the 10-trip titles, the tourist tickets and the airport supplement and only for a part of the population, which uses mobile phones with the Android 7.0 operating system.
It seems that it is only a matter of time to overcome this first phase of virtualization. The Ministry of Transport confirms that the Regional Transport Consortium (CRTM) is already working so that in 2025 the monthly subscription is added to the catalog of titles downloadable to mobile phones and so that all available technology lands in the iOS environment, which is the system with which Apple mobile phones operate.
The launch that takes place this Tuesday culminates a testing phase that has lasted several months in which it has achieved good acceptance among users. According to the Ministry of Transport, during the pilot testing period the application has been used by 19,400 users who have made 588,500 trips through the Madrid public transport network.
The regional government has stated that the download of the application that digitizes the also known as ‘metrobús’ will be free for the next six months. It has not yet been announced whether the application will have any cost beyond that time period, but it must be taken into account that the physical card does have a cost and currently costs two euros.
Travelers who have not been part of the trial period and want to download it now have to search for it in the Android application store, Play Store, with the name ‘Virtual Transportation Card’ -not to be confused with another application called ‘Transport Card’, which only allows you to recharge the title and is also available for Apple phones-. Users must keep in mind that this functionality only works on devices that have NFC reading and that have Android 7.0 or higher.
Once installed on the mobile, the user has to enter their data and associate a bank card to the application. Through Google Wallet, you will now have the virtual transportation card operational to access the subway or EMT buses.
Towards the mobility of the future
The official activation of the transport card is one of the announcements that the Community of Madrid presents on the occasion of the third edition of the Global Mobility Call, the fair on sustainable mobility which begins this Tuesday at Ifema and will last until Thursday. The automation process of line 6 of the Madrid Metro, which has already accumulated several awarded contracts to begin the works of the first phase in June 2025, and the smart shelters of the intercity bus network are other matters of which The regional government wants to make a flag in its Mobility display.
“Is an essential annual appointment and a fundamental showcase of the latest international advances in the field of sustainable mobility,” says Jorge Rodrigo, Minister of Transport, Housing and Infrastructure, who hopes that during the days of the fair “the ideas, models, developments and products will be condensed emerged over the last year in this matter.” Estimates from the regional Executive suggest that more than 10,000 professionals and a hundred companies are going to meet in the capital these days to visit the show that wants to be a fundamental part of the design of the mobility of the future.
#10trip #transportation #card #Android #phones #subscription
