After years of delay: iPhone public transport tickets for Paris
iPhone tickets in Europe should already be available for the first time in 2021. The Parisian public transport provider Île-de-France Mobilités finally did it.
Navigo ticket on an iPhone.
(Image: Apple)
This month, it became possible for the first time to travel within the EU with an NFC-based public transport ticket on an iPhone. The project, which was first announced in 2021 by the Parisian public transport association Île-de-France Mobilités, was actually due to be launched in 2022, but had been postponed several times. Previously, it had only been possible to top up a physical ticket with an iPhone, but not to travel with it alone.
Buy tickets directly in Apple Wallet
In future, it will be possible to store the so-called Navigo ticket for the Paris transport network - i.e. metro, RER, local trains, buses and streetcars - directly on the Apple cell phone. Alternatively, this is also possible on the Apple Watch. The Wallet app is used. Tickets can be purchased either in the Île-de-France Mobilités app or directly in the Wallet app.
The t+, t+ at a reduced price, OrlyBus, RoissyBus and Navigo day passes are currently available there. However, the Paris Visite tourist card seems to be missing. After activation, a "Tap to Ride" is possible: passengers select the ticket in the Wallet and hold it to the reader of the access restrictions in the stations (or to the reader in the bus or streetcar). Express mode can also be activated so that passengers no longer have to do this manually - all they need to do is hold their cell phone or watch up to the reader.
Energy reserve preserves the ticket
Even if the smartphone is almost empty, the ticket should not be "gone", explained Apple. "Thanks to the iPhone's energy reserve, customers whose device needs to be charged can still travel on public transport." Another new feature in iOS is that the Apple Maps app will receive real-time public transport information from Paris for the first time, as we know it from Berlin, for example. This applies at least to the metro, RER, streetcar and RATP buses. Cancellations and delays are also communicated.
In Paris (as in London), using an iPhone or Apple Watch as an NFC ticket also has another advantage: ever since MagSafe was introduced, users have been accidentally validating their paper tickets with magnetic strips on their Apple phones. This can no longer happen.
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