The system speeds up payment processes and does not require the Internet / Roberto Acosta
For a week now, for traveling by bus around the city, there has been a payment option that can be considered simpler and “modern”: as when shopping, you can pay using the QR code method. The system, although it has already received AMBA approval, is gradually arriving on transportation in La Plata to simplify trips using an alternative to the SUBE card.
The technological transformation that has been going through the public transportation system in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area for some time is finally starting to reach La Plata. Since last week, Union Platense urban line users can now pay for the ticket using a QR code or with credit and debit cards, both physical and virtual, a method that, although not available on all buses, is here to stay.
“You can pay using QR (MODO, Mercado Pago), physical debit and credit cards and on mobile phones using NFC through cards loaded in virtual wallets,” the company stated.
The new system is already available on lines 214, 273, North and South, and is expected to soon also arrive on line 520, which is the only line not yet equipped. He added: “It will extend to all the company’s lines and then to the entire region.”
This novelty is part of a broader process of opening up the SUBE system to new payment methods, promoted by the national government through Decree No. 698/2024.
This program seeks to modernize the public transportation network and expand options for passengers.
In AMBA, the method already operates on six national lines, including 338 (TALP) and 406, which connect La Plata to various points in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.
In practice, the new mechanism allows passengers to pay for the ticket without having to have a balance in SUBE: it is enough to have a “contactless” card – plastic credit or debit cards that allow payments to be made by bringing them closer to a terminal using NFC (near field communication) technology – or an associated digital wallet. The procedure is simple: when boarding the bus, the user points to his destination and brings the device or card closer to the validator, at the bottom of the reader screen. If you choose to pay using QR, the code must be generated from the SUBE app, Mercado Pago or BNA+ wallet, and directed to the reader located at the bottom of the payment terminal.
The ticket value is the same as with a registered SUBE card, and those using the card – physical or digital – will continue to access local benefits and bundled discounts determined by each jurisdiction.
“At the moment, we do not know when the system will be completed in all units, because it does not depend on us,” explained Union Platense. But the source who was consulted confirmed that implementation “is progressing without problems.”
At the same time, the arrival of this method represents a new step in the digitalization and modernization of regional public transport, a trend that already exists daily in other large cities and which is now also beginning to take shape in the capital, Buenos Aires.
“I don’t really know how to use it. I don’t know if my phone works. Right now, there will be one less card in the wallet,” Jose said as he stopped in San Martín Square, amazed by the novelty.
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