If you live in the Community of Madrid and are a regular user of public transport, you have already heard of the “Transport Card” application, an application with which we can load and check the balance of public transport cards of the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium (CRTM) directly from your mobile.
Despite the usefulness of this application, the “Transport Card” application does not allow us to leave our transport card at home, because it is not used to access the metro or bus with our cell phone. Fortunately, there is another application from the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium with which we can do just that.
The “Virtual Transport Card” allows us to carry the transport card on our mobile phone, but it is still in the testing phase
We are talking about the “Virtual Transport Card”, an application with which we can carry the transport card on our mobile phone and validate trips by bringing the mobile phone closer to the turnstile or validator, with the advantages that this entails. “Virtual transport card” is in the testing phase for a while now, but Android users can try the beta on their devices.
The application we are talking about is available for free on Google Play and the only thing we need is a smartphone with NFC with Android 7.0 operating system or higher to be able to replace the physical transport card. Of course, we must also install Google Wallet to be able to save the virtual transport card on the mobile.
It’s important to keep in mind that this is a pilot program, so if you use the app during this trial period, we will agree to the terms of participation in the pilot test. To highlight some of the most relevant points of the conditions, We are committed to regularly using the titles loaded on the virtual card (if this is not done, the CRTM could cancel the card) and communicate any incident observed.
Generally speaking, the operation of the application appears to be quite simple. Once installed, we can use it to acquire both the virtual Multi card and the different transport tickets, which will be available in Google Wallet. In this way, whenever we want to validate trips we can use the virtual card stored in the Google application.
As the CRTM explains, During the testing phase the cost of the card will be freewe will therefore only have to pay for the titles that we load on the virtual card. In other words, if we want to buy a Metrobús with 10 journeys, we will pay 6.10 dollars, without paying anything for the card itself (the physical card costs 2.50 dollars).
In addition to the 10-trip Metrobús that we have been able to purchase since the launch of the pilot program, today we can also use the app to acquire the following titles:
- Intercity and urban buses
- 10 combined metro journeys
- 10 Metrosur trips
- 10 Metronorte trips
- 10 Metroeste trips
In case of problem With the application, during the duration of the pilot program, we can communicate the error through the form that the CRTM has activated for this purpose. Additionally, we have the obvious email address [email protected] in case we need to ask specific questions about the pilot program.
Cover image | Sergio Asenjo (Xataka Android)
In Xataka Android | We tested “Transport Card”, the application for recharging public transport cards in Madrid
