Valley Metro

ValleyMetro

About this app

The Valley Metro app is your tool for taking transit in the metro Phoenix area.

Smart Fare makes taking transit even easier – load your account, scan every time you ride and the more you ride, the more you save! You’ll never pay more than the Smart Fare daily, weekly and monthly fare.

Trip planning helps you get where you want to go with step-by-step navigation and real-time location for bus and light rail.

Features:
• Load your account and scan the QR code at the purple fare reader
• View your transaction history
• Set up autoload or load your account with cash at select retail locations
• Plan your trip with step-by-step navigation
• Locate your bus or train in real time
• Save your favorite stops and routes
• Get service alerts and account notifications

Ratings and reviews

This app isn't user friendly. Difficult for navigating and planning bus trips. Trying to look up or plan for the best time and route doesn't work because it never includes the best or shortest route. For example if I want to go to the east valley it rarely includes the lightrail, which is ridiculous because it's faster. If you want to get somewhere use google maps. It's not always great but 100% better than this junk app. It's government so I guess that's the problem, they don't have to care.

The new Smart Fare update is strange. No longer can you purchase a pass, instead you're dependent on adding funds from a card or cash at a local store, and the QR code is significantly smaller than what the machine used to scan, which had a full screen mode that was easier for the scanner to pick up. Sure you might not be charged more than what you ought to pay but why was the option to buy a pass removed? This seems pretty backwards to me.

I needed to purchase 2 all-day passes for same-day use. I went through the whole process and pressed the button to complete the transaction and all I was presented with was an error. I tried the transaction again, same error. No passes were added to my account. I had to purchase the passes with cash at the station. Days later the passes finally showed up and my card had been charged twice. Even better, Valley Metro refuses to refund passes even when errors cause duplicate transactions.

What’s new

- Added Fare Programs feature for organizations and special events
- Performance and stability updates