Pronto - San Diego

San Diego MTS

About this app

PRONTO makes buying fares for MTS and NCTD easier than ever. Add money to your PRONTO app, then scan your phone at the validator each trip you make. Our pay-as-you-go function means you always get the best fare! When using the app, hold your phone 5 to 6 inches below the validator to scan your barcode.

The PRONTO app can also help you plan trips, see real-time arrivals, get service statuses, save favorite stations, and find stops for San Diego County area transit so you can plan your trip around San Diego without any problems.

Always Get The Best Fare
With PRONTO, you can pay-as-you-go* by adding money to your PRONTO account with a credit or debit card. Every time you scan your app, the appropriate one-way fare is deducted from your balance. Look for validators at Trolley, SPRINTER and COASTER stations, and onboard buses.

You will never be charged more than a Day Pass ($6 Adult or $3 Reduced Fare) in a given calendar day, regardless of how many trips you make. Likewise, you will never be charged more than a Month Pass ($72 Adult or $23 Reduced Fare) regardless of the number of trips in a calendar month.

You can track your progress toward a Day or Month Pass in the PRONTO app.

*Pay-as-you go features not available for COASTER (must prepay for Day or Month Pass).


Manage Your PRONTO Cards
• Register your PRONTO card for balance protection
• Load money onto your card using a debit/credit card
• Set up autoload to top off your card automatically when your balance gets low
• See your balance, current fare, and earned passes
• Look up your recent scans, transfer times, and payment history
• Manage multiple PRONTO cards for your family or group
• Block/Unblock a lost or stolen card

Next Departures:
• Find Next Departures using stop number, address or landmarks
• See real-time bus and train service statuses and news
• Map and List view of Nearby Stops
• List of recent stops and favorites

Trip Planning:
• Plan a trip using popular landmarks or addresses
• Full trip itineraries with fare information, actual walking distance, and map view
• Set alerts to notify you when transit is arriving
• See a list of recent trip plans
• Save favorite stops for easy access

Need More Help?
Contact PRONTO Support at 619-595-5636

Ratings and reviews

Does the bare minimum, unlike MTS. Bus fare and pass purchases work. It's dumb that you can't buy 2 passes on the same app or card in one month, so you can't purchase early unless you switch between the app and a Pronto card. It's helpful that it lets you split purchases between cards. It would be nice if it could ever be accurate about upcoming departure times.

The app freezes at the allow pronto to access this device's location screen. Doesn't matter if I uninstall and reinstall the app or restart it. Looks to be pretty common on Samsung S24 phones which I have. EDIT: After having to manually allow location sharing, it got past the frozen screen. Then, it froze on the allow notification permission. Closed the app and reopened it, and it allowed me to click allow. No issues since then. Added a star but this shouldn't be a thing with modern day apps.

I love it! I don't use the trip planner. Google maps is better for that. I see others complaining about passes. Don't buy passes! (Unless you need a non-standard/reduced fare pass) They cap you at the price of a pass every Day/Month and afterward you ride free until the end of the day/month. No need to over-spend. Would give 5 stars if they had the ability to tap with NFC and if you could use it to pay for a friend(s) to ride with you. Please implement those two features and it would be perfect.