STM: Montevideo's Bus Fare Card and Its Open Trip Data
This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.
17 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.
How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page
Montevideo publishes every bus trip its fare card records, month by month. It still cannot see where those trips end, because riders tap only when they board.
what does this mean?
The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,247 documented projects · 🏙️ 10 more in Montevideo · 🎫 Smart ticketing guide · 🚲 Mobility projects
The STM card is the Intendencia de Montevideo's fare card for a bus network run by four operators: Cutcsa, Coetc, Ucot and Come. According to the city, the card and GPS on the buses arrived in 2008; on 4 July 2009 the card became compulsory for the two-hour ticket, which allows unlimited rides on any company's buses within two hours. Riders validate the card only when they board. Since 2016 the buses' positions have been sent to the city's data centre in real time, and the city's Cómo Ir app shows them with estimated arrival times. The city publishes every trip recorded by the validation machines, by company, line, day, hour, user type and form of payment, as monthly open data, with files going back to November 2019.
📊 Impact
After the city made a cash fare cost two pesos more than a card fare from 13 November 2016, the share of trips paid electronically rose from 13% to 26%, according to the city's mobility director. In a week of May 2023, about 87% of some 4.9 million trips were validated with the STM card, according to an analysis by the research centre CINVE of data supplied by the city.
🎓 Lesson
A tap-in card tells a city where trips start, not where they end: researchers working with Montevideo's card and GPS data have had to estimate origin-destination matrices. Changing the card itself has proved slower than announced. In February 2024 the mayor said the bus companies would begin installing machines for paying by bank card or QR code from July; in August 2026 the mobility director said the upgrade, letting riders pay on board with debit, credit or prepaid cards or a phone, is expected to be completed by mid-2027.
Sources
Show 4 more sourcesShow fewer
📅 How old is the evidence?
Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2008. 8 of 9 sources carry a publication date, from 27 July 2009 to 20 August 2026.
When the sources were published
- Montevideo Portal · pressMontevideo Portal — Se pedirá tarjeta para boleto 1 hora (27 Jul 2009)
- El Observador · pressEl Observador — Las claves para usar la tarjeta STM en los ómnibus (26 Oct 2016)
- El Observador · pressEl Observador — Aumentó uso de STM pero tres de cada cuatro usuarios sigue pagando en efectivo (11 Jan 2017)
- Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento (AGESIC) · national governmentAGESIC — Datos y participación: transporte público en tiempo real (article by the Intendencia de Montevideo, 1 Mar 2019)
- Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de la República · researchFacultad de Ingeniería, Udelar — Renzo Massobrio, Análisis de datos del sistema de transporte público de Montevideo (workshop, 5 Jun 2019)
- El Observador · pressEl Observador — Pago con QR, débito y crédito: cuándo empiezan a regir cambios en el STM (27 Feb 2024)
- Centro de Investigaciones Económicas (CINVE) · researchCINVE — ¿Quiénes sostienen el transporte público? Una perspectiva de género del STM, Nota Técnica 4 (3 Jun 2024)
- El Observador · pressEl Observador — Cómo funciona el sistema de pago con tarjetas de crédito, débito y prepaga que incorporarán los ómnibus de Montevideo (20 Aug 2026)
Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 17 claims with their sources · the forensic record
Evidence file · public beta 17 addressable claims, 9 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.
Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 17
The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.
clm-28a5f14df2d2c66c
descriptive
the Intendencia de Montevideo's fare card
Sources carrying this claim
clm-f05af3f0f5117a22
descriptive
run by four operators: Cutcsa, Coetc, Ucot and Come
Sources carrying this claim
clm-4811b5555fd98709
quantitative
the card and GPS on the buses arrived in 2008
Sources carrying this claim
clm-8796b4db219cd4bc
quantitative
on 4 July 2009 the card became compulsory for the two-hour ticket
Sources carrying this claim
clm-89cb42a69eefc92c
descriptive
which allows unlimited rides on any company's buses within two hours
Sources carrying this claim
clm-e92e3338482d26ce
descriptive
Riders validate the card only when they board.
Sources carrying this claim
clm-60ea50caeadf9ad3
quantitative
Since 2016 the buses' positions have been sent to the city's data centre in real time
Sources carrying this claim
clm-5169f57f1eab3980
descriptive
the city's Cómo Ir app shows them with estimated arrival times
Sources carrying this claim
clm-1bedf655e69a885b
descriptive
The city publishes every trip recorded by the validation machines, by company, line, day, hour, user type and form of payment, as monthly open data
Sources carrying this claim
clm-365aac21c28f2ad4
quantitative
with files going back to November 2019
Sources carrying this claim
clm-c98770a7d750f381
quantitative
After the city made a cash fare cost two pesos more than a card fare from 13 November 2016
Sources carrying this claim
clm-d32446afa9c02079
quantitative
the share of trips paid electronically rose from 13% to 26%, according to the city's mobility director
Sources carrying this claim
clm-c0df291710810104
quantitative
In a week of May 2023, about 87% of some 4.9 million trips were validated with the STM card
Sources carrying this claim
clm-c9e07c623247c84a
descriptive
according to an analysis by the research centre CINVE of data supplied by the city
Sources carrying this claim
clm-b359827b90744801
descriptive
researchers working with Montevideo's card and GPS data have had to estimate origin-destination matrices
Sources carrying this claim
clm-a7581d07ef0237a1
quantitative
In February 2024 the mayor said the bus companies would begin installing machines for paying by bank card or QR code from July
Sources carrying this claim
clm-03616a1fef215520
quantitative
in August 2026 the mobility director said the upgrade, letting riders pay on board with debit, credit or prepaid cards or a phone, is expected to be completed by mid-2027
Sources carrying this claim
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders
This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.
Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.
sha256:1a1a1e96bc7e63f96e498476003a22d76ecdca4df74f47482ce3bbd46822f368
- 17
- of 17 claims mapped
- 9
- source dossiers
- 8
- publication dates recorded
- 0
- archives linked
- 0
- exact locators
- 0
- content captures hashed
Governance facts carried by the record
- Operator
- Intendencia de Montevideo (STM card, data centre, Cómo Ir); buses run by Cutcsa, Coetc, Ucot and Come
- Actor types
- city-government, private
- Funding model
- public
- Funding description
- The Intendencia de Montevideo runs the card system; the card is free the first time. The US$5 million for new on-board payment machines announced in 2024 was part of the city's fund for renewing the bus fleet.
- Cost
- Not recorded
- Ownership
- Not recorded
- Decision rights
- Not recorded
- Exit conditions
- Not recorded
9 source dossiers
AGESIC — Datos y participación: transporte público en tiempo real (article by the Intendencia de Montevideo, 1 Mar 2019)
- Stable source ID
src-a123bb2439e1b903- Publisher
- Name not classified · gub.uy
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2019-03-01
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-11-07
- Dossier created
- 2026-11-07
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
An article written by the Intendencia de Montevideo and republished by the national e-government agency. It says a card system for bus tickets with GPS on the buses was introduced in 2008, that since 2016 bus positions have been transmitted in real time to the city's data centre, and that the city added live bus positions and arrival estimates to its existing Cómo Ir app.
Montevideo Portal — Se pedirá tarjeta para boleto 1 hora (27 Jul 2009)
- Stable source ID
src-e97e9ab9cffa37e3- Publisher
- Name not classified · montevideo.com.uy
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2009-07-27
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-11-07
- Dossier created
- 2026-11-07
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Report that the STM card became compulsory for the two-hour ticket on 4 July 2009 and would soon be required for the one-hour ticket; the city's transport director said 320,000 cards had been issued, of which about 100,000 were in use.
- Claims linked
El Observador — Las claves para usar la tarjeta STM en los ómnibus (26 Oct 2016)
- Stable source ID
src-cbdd987983d430d3- Publisher
- Name not classified · elobservador.com.uy
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2016-10-26
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-11-07
- Dossier created
- 2026-11-07
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Guide to the card when the city introduced a cheaper card fare: the cash fare rose to 30 pesos from 13 November 2016 while card users kept paying 28; more than a million cards had been issued, fewer than 20% topped up regularly; the city set a minimum top-up of 150 pesos; the two-hour ticket allows unlimited buses of any company for two hours.
El Observador — Aumentó uso de STM pero tres de cada cuatro usuarios sigue pagando en efectivo (11 Jan 2017)
- Stable source ID
src-56e563331448a822- Publisher
- Name not classified · elobservador.com.uy
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2017-01-11
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-11-07
- Dossier created
- 2026-11-07
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Reports the mobility director, Pablo Inthamoussu, saying electronic or postpaid payment rose from 13% of trips in November 2016 to 26% after the fare incentives, against a campaign promise to remove cash from buses within two years; 74% of users still paid the higher cash fare.
- Claims linked
CINVE — ¿Quiénes sostienen el transporte público? Una perspectiva de género del STM, Nota Técnica 4 (3 Jun 2024)
- Stable source ID
src-358b133843b48f57- Publisher
- Name not classified · cinve.org.uy
- Type / language
- pdf · language not classified
- Published
- 2024-06-03
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-11-07
- Dossier created
- 2026-11-07
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Technical note by the research centre CINVE, based on STM data for a typical week of May 2023 supplied by the Intendencia: about 4.9 million trips, about 87% (4.3 million) validated with the STM card, made by about 600,000 people, 62% of them women.
- Claims linked
Facultad de Ingeniería, Udelar — Renzo Massobrio, Análisis de datos del sistema de transporte público de Montevideo (workshop, 5 Jun 2019)
- Stable source ID
src-77adfdded0fb5f9f- Publisher
- Name not classified · fing.edu.uy
- Type / language
- pdf · language not classified
- Published
- 2019-06-05
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-11-07
- Dossier created
- 2026-11-07
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Workshop slides from the engineering faculty of the Universidad de la República: buses carry GPS, passengers validate the STM card only when boarding (tap-in), the research used bus GPS and card sales data under an agreement with the city, and the work estimates origin-destination matrices and travel times. The slides date the STM to 2010.
- Claims linked
Intendencia de Montevideo, via Catálogo Nacional de Datos Abiertos — Viajes realizados en los ómnibus del Sistema de Transporte Metropolitano (dataset)
- Stable source ID
src-c79a7824b6f4d3b4- Publisher
- Name not classified · catalogodatos.gub.uy
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- Not recorded
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-11-07
- Dossier created
- 2026-11-07
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
The city's open dataset of all trips on Montevideo's urban bus lines, by operating company, line, variant, day and hour, with boardings at every stop by user type, form of payment and number of legs, taken from all records processed by the validation machines. Monthly files run from November 2019; publication began in October 2020, under Uruguay's open-data licence.
- Claims linked
El Observador — Pago con QR, débito y crédito: cuándo empiezan a regir cambios en el STM (27 Feb 2024)
- Stable source ID
src-ee6c43f3f49eea7d- Publisher
- Name not classified · elobservador.com.uy
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2024-02-27
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-11-07
- Dossier created
- 2026-11-07
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Reports mayor Carolina Cosse saying the bus companies would start installing new machines from July 2024 for paying by debit card, credit card or QR code as well as the STM card, at a cost of US$5 million that was part of the fund launched that month to renew the bus fleet.
- Claims linked
El Observador — Cómo funciona el sistema de pago con tarjetas de crédito, débito y prepaga que incorporarán los ómnibus de Montevideo (20 Aug 2026)
- Stable source ID
src-80d4d079718d5810- Publisher
- Name not classified · elobservador.com.uy
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2026-08-20
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-11-07
- Dossier created
- 2026-11-07
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Reports mobility director Germán Benítez announcing that riders will be able to pay on board with debit, credit or prepaid cards or a phone, without depending only on the STM card, and that the upgrade of the machines on the buses is expected to be completed by mid-2027.
- Claims linked
Known limits of this file
- Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
- Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
- A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
- The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.
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📎 Cite this project
1001 Smart Cities (2026). “STM: Montevideo's Bus Fare Card and Its Open Trip Data” — Montevideo, Uruguay. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/montevideo-stm-card/ (last verified 2026-11-07). Data: CC BY 4.0.
The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.
