Transit pass

"Travel card" redirects here. ForTfL's travelcard pass in London, seeTravelcard.

4 day railrover(UK, 1994)

Atransit pass(North American English) ortravel card(British English), often referred to as abus passortrain passetc. (in all English dialects),is aticketthat allows a passenger of the service to take either a certain number of pre-purchased trips or unlimited trips within a fixed period of time.

Depending on the transport network and on how much the pass is used, the pass may offer varying discounts compared with trips that are purchased individually. While transit passes can generally be purchased at full price by anyone wishing to use the services (senior citizens,tourists,thedisabled,studentsand some others are often able to get them at a reduced price) manyemployers,colleges,anduniversitieswill subsidize the cost of them, or sometimes the full amount.

Somepublic transportnetworks will allow certain types of personnel, includingpolice officers,fire fighters,active military, and their own employees to ride their services free with proper identification and without the need to purchase a pass. In a lot of cases, the identification can be scanned on the ticket validator like any other transit pass.

Types of passes

Further information:Season ticket

Some common forms of transit passes are:

• Day pass- offers unlimited rides on the day of purchase; ofttimes, over 24 hours. Usually available for purchase on the bus being boarded.
• Weekly pass- allows unlimited rides in a seven-day period. While some networks allow the pass to be purchased for any seven-day period, others offer these passes only for the same range of seven days (usually either Sunday to Saturday or Monday to Sunday).
• Monthly pass- allows unlimited rides for an entire month. Since months vary in length, the discount for the use of such a pass varies each month. Some networks allow the pass to be used for a specified 30-day or 31-day period that does not necessarily have to start on the first of the month.
• Annual pass- allows unlimited rides for the entire year and usually offers a higher discount than the monthly pass.
• Multi-trip tickets- allow bulk purchase for a lowerfareper trip. Historically, these have often been in the form oftokens,but tokens are being discontinued in many places in favor of more high-tech methods of fare collection.

Asia

Hong Kong

With theOctopussmartcardmany transport operators, including bus, minibus and railway companies provide free transfers or discounts on the second leg of the journey. Also, the major bus companies, as well asMTR,the railway operator, offer a discounted flat fare for senior citizens on certain days of the week, at HK$1 and HK$2 respectively.

Europe

France

Paris Visite3 day ticket, 3 zones

Germany

Berlin Welcome Card

A "semester ticket" is a student transit pass issued by universities andFachhochschuleninGermanyallowing students to travel on the buses, trams, subways, and local trains of the school's home city.The cost of the semester ticket is included in the university's student fees,and it can be used in thestatewhere the university is situated. The ticket is valid for transit on the subway (U-Bahn), suburban trains (S-Bahn), street trams, and buses in that state, but is not valid onIntercity-Expresstrains.

Lithuania

InVilnius,Lithuania,a travel card is used for the public transport.

Denmark

InDenmarkthere is a universal travelcard called "rejsekort"which is valid all trains, buses and light rail in the country, as well as theØresundstågtoMalmö.

Norway

Travel card systems are used in most of the local public transport inNorway.In the counties ofOsloandAkershus,reisekort(meaning simply "travel card", formerlyFlexus) is used for theT-bane(Metro),tramwayand theMunicipal bussystem. InSør-Trøndelag,t:kort(meaning "t:card" ) is used. InRogaland,Kolumbuskort(meaning "Kolumbuscard ") is used. InHordaland,Skysskortet(meaning "Skysscard ") is used. In addition, several other counties use similar travel card systems.

Republic of Ireland

A prepaidTFI Leap Cardis available for transport in the greater Dublin area, providing access to LUAS, DART and Dublin Bus services. The card may be topped up online.

Russia

Russia, Saint-Petersburg: paper based 10 trips electronic (RFID) transit pass

Prepaid transit passes are moving toward electronic plastic-based or paper-based contactless cards.

Saint Petersburg

Early cards are plastic based and limited only for underground railway trips. For surface transportation they have unlimited trips within a fixed period of time. A passenger has to pay a security deposit of 30 roubles for the card itself. When the pass expires, passenger can recharge it with the same or another type of fare or return the card and get the security deposit back. The card itself expires 90 days after not being recharged. In this case, the security deposit cannot be returned.

In 2010 appeared the first non-rechargeable disposable paper-based electronic transit passes for a certain number of trips on trams, trolleybuses and buses. They are sold with a protective foil sticker, which should be removed prior to first use. They are not time-limited except that they expire 30 days after the countrywide or citywide fare changes, which happens usually each 1–2 years.

In 2011 the "Podorozhnik"("Plantago") cards came to the stage. Their difference from earlyplastic cardsis that they have a conventional area where a fare for specific amount of time (15 days, one month) could be written (the unit is a single ride) and an "electronic wallet" which could be charged with any amount of roubles (the unit is Rouble) with an ability to get a discount - the more rides the cheaper a single ride is. Electronic wallet gets unlocked when a fixed period fare expires. Also they have bigger expiration period after not being recharged (3 years).

Spain

InSpaina travel card calledcreditransis used in the city ofBilbao.

Sweden

Further information:Public transport in Stockholm

InStockholm,Swedena travel card is used for themunicipal railwaysystems.

United Kingdom

In theUnited Kingdomanyone resident in England over the "age of eligibility" and people with certain disabilities travel free on most publicbusesthroughout the country at certain times (typically between 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends andBank Holidays) through theEnglish National Concessionary Travel Scheme.Some councils also allow these people to travel free ontrains,tramsorferrieswithin their local areas, and/or at other times of the day, and may additionally offer local free travel at a lower age. Similar schemes were introduced inWalesin 2002, inScotlandin April 2006, and later inEngland.Northern Irelandruns a similar scheme but the age limit is 66.

The "age of eligibility" was 60 until 6 June 2010, but increased over ten years to 65, in line with parallel changes to women's eligibility for state old age pension.

Travel card schemes for general public use are currently operated in the United Kingdom in a number of areas including:

• National Railrover and ranger
• Greater London (TravelcardandOyster card)
• Liverpool and Merseyside (MetroCard)
• West Midlands (Swift card)
• South Hampshire (Solent Travelcard)
• Strathclyde (ZoneCard)
• Greater Manchester (System OneTravelcards)
• Tyne and Wear (Network One andPop Card)
• West Yorkshire (MCard)

Travel card schemes are often supplemented or replaced bystored valuecards.

North America

USA

Chicago

Unlimited Ride passes allow travel on allCTAbuses and trains with a 1-Day Fun Pass, or 3-day, 7-day or 30-day unlimited-ride passes. The pass, viaVentra,activates the first time the rider uses it and is good for the number of consecutive days shown on the front of the pass. 1-Day ($10), 3-Day ($20), 7-Day ($33) and 30-Day ($100).Metraalso offers monthly unlimited ride passes that vary in price depending on fare zones, as well as a weekend pass via Ventra that offers unlimited rides through all zones at a flat $10.

Greyhound

Greyhound Lines:As from September 30, 2012, the Discovery Pass is no longer available for purchase. The company is thought to feel that 'board-anytime go-anywhere' passes complicate their new business model of "guaranteed reserved seats".

Martha's Vineyard

InMartha's Vineyardit is rare to offer anannual passin addition to passes valid for one, three, seven, or thirty-one days. The cost of an annual pass is $100 for adults and $50 for students. All other types of passes are available at adult prices only.

New Orleans

OnNORTA,both transfers and day passes are available. A transfer may be purchased for 25¢ in addition to the $1.25 base fare (seniors & disabled get it for free although they pay just the $0.40 fare). Day passes can be purchased for $3 when boarding any bus orstreetcar.Additionally, passes valid for a 3-day period can be purchased for $9, or for 31 days for $55, at a limited number of locations.

New York City

OnNew York City Transit,a one-way fare is currently $2.75 per trip ($2.50 if on a preloadedMetroCard), and allows freetransfersbetween buses and subway. Weekly passes are $32, and monthly passes are $121. Multi-trip MetroCards are also available that provide a 5% discount when purchasing at least $5 of credit.Further information of New York MTA fares can be found here.

Portland Metro Area

In thePortland, Oregonarea there are multipleTriMetday pass options. Prices range from $2–$5 for anywhere all day with as many transfers as one wants. There are also 7, 14, and 30-day passes (which range from roughly $7–$100). There are student discounts and "honored citizen" AKA 65+ discount as well. see[1]for more info on passes in TriMet.

San Francisco

CityPASS Muni and Cable Car 7-day Passport tickets include unlimited transportation on Muni for seven consecutive days beginning day of first CityPASS use. The price is ($64) Adults ($39) Kids 5-12.[2].

Seattle region

Sound Transit,Everett Transit,Community Transit,King County Metro,Pierce TransitandKitsap Transitoffer free transfers via theORCA Cardonly, and these transfers are good for two hours after the user taps the card against the reader. When using ORCA, users get full credit for the fare paid on the original trip on any trip on any of the mentioned systems. Kitsap Transit, King County Metro and Pierce Transit also issue paper transfers. These transfers are valid only on the system which issued them. Commuter rail and light rail tickets are valid for one trip only, and no free paper transfers to or from rail are issued or accepted. The agency also issues universal passes, which can be loaded onto the user's ORCA card. Also, ORCA also provides services to organizations wishing to purchase transit services on behalf of their employees or students.

Washington, D.C. area

While fares for individual trips vary, theWashington Metropolitan Area Transit Authorityoffers various passes for ridingMetrobusandMetrorail.A seven-day regular fare pass for unlimited Metrorail rides is $47, but this cannot be used on buses. A one-day rail-only pass is available for $9.00, but on weekdays, this is not valid until after 9:30 AM. A weeklyMetrobuspass is available for $15 at regular fare, and it cannot be used on Metrorail.

Riders of Metrorail and Metrobus can transfer between the two services and enjoy a $0.50 discount if they use an electronicSmarTripcard. Those transferring between any two Metrorail lines can change trains without exiting the faregate, thereby incurring no additional fare or requiring a transfer slip.

Transfers are honored both ways between Metrobus andMontgomery County'sRide-on bus service.Ride-on accepts transfers from Metrorail for an additional 35¢ (waived for senior citizens), but there are no transfers from Ride-on buses to Metrorail.

For $102 more than the price of aMARC trainmonthly ticket, a Transit Link Card granting unlimited Metrorail and Metrobus trips for the month of the MARC ticket can be purchased. MARC monthly passes are also honored as fare payment for allMaryland Transit Administrationbus,MetroandLight Railservices in theBaltimorearea at no extra cost.

The Maryland Transit Administration within the Baltimore area generally charges $1.70 for a single trip on one local bus or train. The agency abolished transfers in 1996 in favor of day passes, which at the time were $3.00 and are currently $4.00. Those taking multi-bus/train trips are encouraged to purchase day passes, which at regular fare, are the cost of two one-way trips plus 30¢. Weekly and monthly passes are also available, and all such passes since 2005 have been called "GO-passes." The only transfers that are allowed in the system without additional fare payment are between the various lines of the light rail.

For further reading on WMATA fares,see here.For Baltimore area MTA fares,see here.

Canada

Toronto

TheToronto Transit Commissionoffers free 2-hour transfers with all base fares. Transfers may be used only on lines connecting to the one from which the transfer was obtained. Also, passengers can pay with aPresto cardwhich may offer a discount in fare.

Vancouver

TransLinkoffers several types of fare cards priced by the number of zones the user will be in. As of January 2024, monthly passes are priced at approximately $105 for 1 Zone, $140 for 2 Zones, and $190 for three zones. Concession passes are also available to youth, seniors, and HandyCard holders. A single fare is valid for 90 minutes on bus, SkyTrain, SeaBus, and HandyDART.

In 2013, TransLink started the transition toCompass card,which provides similar benefits in a reusable, stored value card.

Winnipeg

With the purchase of any single fare,Winnipeg Transitoffers free transfers that are valid for 75 minutes from the time of issuance and can be used on any regular bus route for travel in any direction, including return trips. The agency also offers 24-hour, 5-day, 7-day, 28-day, and monthly passes on thePeggocard system.

See also

• Free travel pass
• Integrated ticketing
• List of public transport smart cards
• Multimodal transport
• Smart card