🏷️ About: 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.
- Easy to use
- Value added feature to scan phone under machine on bus
- Does bookkeeping for you
- Customer service is great
- Best local app for transit fare payment
by A Sad UCSD Student
I just changed phone recently and tried to transfer my existing virtual card from my old phone to my new phone. When I clicked on ‘transfer existing card’ it prompted me that transfer failed and blocked my card so I couldn’t use it anymore. I called the this app help service, and they helped me went through the same failed transfer, blocked card, unblock card on their end, failed transfer again. It happened 7 times during my call to help service. In the end, I gave up. Now my card is blocked and I can’t unblock it from my end. No more purchases can be made.
Honestly, Pronto is such an amazing failure that it should be put into a textbook of most classical programming disasters. Have the programmers even looked at people’s complaints? Your app is supposed to be the backbone of public transport, not the one who denies it. I rarely write such a harsh comment, but this is just ridiculous because CompassCloud was so well developed compared to this one. You can do it, but you choose not to.
by Sailor Ghidra
Could’ve been an easy 5 star rating, I see how they ignore the important issues in the ratings (inability to add card payment, faulty card transfer system, no auto fill support, no verification on school passes not registering to account properly, numerous login issues, no support to remove unused cards). Pronto is broken and they don’t care to fix it because they know they hold a monopoly on how we all pay for public transportation. Throw the whole company away at this point. Masters at marketing a broken product with no alternative way to get the service you deserve as a paying customer.
by WendersSuspenders
When you download Pronto the only options are to download funds or buy a monthly pass. There should be an option to get a day pass. A lot of us rely on that day pass to either get us to school, work or home. It’s completely unfair that there is no option for a day pass on the this app app. Instead we have to spend way more money than before to ride public transportation. Someone please fix this bug, a lot of us rely on public transportation and the economy is hard as is.
by Transit Student
Tried to use Pronto to set up my card and use it for bus fares and it would not work (regardless if connected to wifi or not). I deleted and redownloaded and did everything I could to try and make it work but unfortunately it keeps sending error messages. The nearest transit area to purchase a card is far and waiting for the card to arrive in the mail is too lengthy. I hope this gets fixed soon, especially before students start in two weeks.
by Zoobuildin
it’s not an active real time app for bus tracking and schedules. It just looks like it is.
NextBus tracks neither the bus nor the schedule—I have no idea what it’s ‘tracking’. I ‘watched’ the bus approach, arrive and depart on nextbus but never saw a physical bus. Then the physical bus came 5 mins later on schedule that wasn’t in nextbus.
Trip planner: big line closures this weekend on the trolley. No closures are reflected in the trip planner, Nextbus shows the trolley running along, there isn’t even an alert about closures.
Some of the ‘alerts’ ended over two months ago so they aren’t keeping this up to date by months at least.
by Chedrik27
You end up with this, which barely works. Where is the QA or user testing? I would be embarrassed to release a product so broken and clunky.
Couldn’t add a payment card after signing up the first time. Had to uninstall and reinstall and then was able to add a card. Of course when I did this, my virtual card was no longer recognized as part of this device and I had to “transfer” the card to myself.
Am I surprised that SD switched from something that worked fine to this? No, of course not. I am eager to see how many other bugs I find in the first hour of use.
by Med__
I contacted this app support 7 days ago and was hung up on a total of 12 times because “the line was busy”. Even when I switched to call the other support line, the person on the phone did not help in the slightest bit. Rather, they told me to contact my school even though I had already tried and was redirected to contact this app support. They did not as for my name or any of my contact information, and tried to reassure me that my problem would get fixed.
It has been a full week and my this app account is still not registering that I have the UCSD U-pass. The system is so flawed.
by Silly Robot 42
Another failure. Can’t transfer my compass account. Have to create a whole new account, except it won’t accept my registration, except it accepted my registration without acknowledging it, but then later it sent me an acknowledgment via email. Can’t register a credit card to make payments so I can use Pronto . Have been trying for three days. No event passes. Finally just had to buy two one-way tickets at the kiosk at the station to travel. No event ticket or day-pass available at the kiosk either.
And about the web site. Try to add a payment method online and if it fails, and it did, many times, it doesn’t clear the card information and leaves it on display for anyone using a public computer can see.
You’d think after all the failures with the other apps they’d try to work out the kinks before releasing Pronto to the public, and this with the new Blue Line extension.
What a embarrassment for the city.
by Deep River
I think that I have my account on Pronto setup, the proof will be when I try it on a bus, thank God I also have physical this app card.
Now I had to bulldoze my way into setting it up because I couldn’t find any help or FAQ on Pronto , a link to the this app website is not the way to do it even if app help existed there.
For those of you having trouble I think that the best thing to do is set up your account using a web browser on a Mac or at least an iPad. Then you can log into Pronto with email and password, fire up the bulldozer and shove your way through the settingd get your virtual card set up.
I am disappointed in the programmers in that my profile is not complete on Pronto . A well designed system should bring over my address and phone number that is included on the website instead of just my name.
Of course this is version #1 and it should improve over time, but a professional designer would test the system by observing non tech people using it.
by Kozzzmico
I have no way of buying a monthly pass for the month of october, 3 days Pronto has had issues and the buses won’t take cash for a day pass even with a actual this app card on you. this is incredibly frustrating since I ride the public transit almost EVERYDAY. i’m about to call your service # and see what fix you guys have, the compass system and app was much better than this.
by DloTeBhturT
I work at SDSU and thus was told I couldn’t get a physical card. Not a fan of needing to use my phone to get onto the bus, especially since the scanner is so moody.
Also, we were told to get the semester pass once we sign up using our SDSU email, but every university option tells me “user not eligible for transit benefit.”
October is closing in, and I’d like a free card and the option to purchase a semester or staff specific pass. Still waiting.
by JoeWantsMoarCoffee
Immediately with Pronto ’s onboarding, you’re presented with a form that doesn’t auto fill your name. When creating your password, there’s no suggestion from iCloud password keychain, which means whatever you enter won’t be saved. When you enter a payment method, it won’t auto fill any credit card number you’ve saved or give you the option to use ApplePay.
by Jerilyn Mae
I couldn’t buy a one month pass using Pronto. Tried it both in regular and senior registered pass and different phones. It kept saying that we have reached the maximum times we could purchase it even though we had only purchased it once for the month of October 2021. It worked well when I used their website.
by Bercosad
I haven’t used the virtual card feature but the rest of the this app card management seems to work fine. The Trip Planner has some quirks though.
From where I am (Del Mar) I might be directed to take the 101 bus either northward to Solana Beach train station or southwards towards UCSD or UTC. The Trip Planner summarizes either direction on this bus as “101 -> UTC Transit Center” whether or not I need the bus headed in that direction or the one headed towards Oceanside. I have to further look into the Trip details to suss out the correct direction, a task that becomes more difficult when I’m in an area that I don’t know really well, i.e. when I really want a lot of help from the Trip Planner.
Updates to Pronto seem few and far between. I hope the developers were not temporary interns and there is staff on hand to effect improvements.
by KR-max
this app works well once it is setup. However, the initial setup takes a good bit of data entry, especially for the credit card payment (card number, expiry, CVV, full address, …)
If it supported Apple Pay, this would be much easier.
Similarly, if it supported Sign In with Apple, that would streamline the account creation part.
by Daarzzio
It’s a great app, it’s just missing compatibility with Apple Wallet. It’s bothersome having to open Pronto every time so i’m hoping this is in the works. Once this app has this one missing feature it’d undoubtedly be the best traveling app.
by ActionCat
I’ve been traveling the California coast and found that the this app app is one of the best local apps for transit fare payment. My second favorite for paying transit fares was in Monterey where you could simply use your credit card and it would track the swipes with your card, maxing out daily fare at the day pass rate. I like that this app does something similar although a nice enhancement would be to include Apple Pay as an option or a way to not have to pre load $5 or more onto the pass at a time.
by SoCal Listener
It’s easy to use, but the best part was the customer service. I had a problem because I created my account on my iPad but Pronto only operates on one device. Transferring to my iPhone screwed the account (maybe a stars reduction). I called customer service and although I had a 5-7 minute wait, the service agent spent a lot of patient time helping to correct the issue. And after that he also change our profile from Adult to Senior ( yes, we are seniors). I’ll look past the minor app issues to recognize the great support.
by Pigsooiee
I like Pronto . There is a lot to it, and I’m still not completely comfortable using all of its features, but I do believe it has enough features for you to be able to find out anything you need to know. It is really convenient to have Pronto on my iPhone and use the value added feature to just scan my phone under the machine on the bus. Since it does your bookkeeping for you, you always know how much is in your account, and never feel as though you’re not taking the bus often enough to justify buying a monthly pass, since your balance carries over month to month. I need a tutor to schedule a trip where multiple buses are involved at this point, though. All in all, I am happy with the this app system.
by Roguebetatester
Great app, easy to get started and set up a this app card. App worked perfectly first time riding the Trolley. Only wish would be Apple Pay integration for adding card value, but the built-in payment system works also.
by C.hristovski
Online portal doesnt work yet.
App doesnt work yet.
Cant create or login to an account yet.
Cant order tickets or a card yet.
by Kroger Cheese Popcorn Is Crack
Can’t even sign in, trying to make sure I get the free September promo but how can I when I cant sign in?
by KimboNutt
Liked the Compass Cloud app better. Pronto asks for too much information. Also, don’t like the fact that it doesn’t support Apple Pay. Looks basic! Looks like it made quick and held up by tape. It’s ghetto 🤷🏾♀️
using the trip planner, you put in the departure site, the arrival site and then hit search. No matter what timeframe you specify, It kicks you out of the app without giving you info. This is stupid and so frustrating
As a visitor to San Diego I felt that Pronto was a waste of my time and money (which I lost). I only worked onces. I'm glad local like it. Thank God for Uber.
Typical...can't leave a comment with out MTS knowing it all...surprised you don't want ss#, dob etc. Pronto is a total invasion of privacy. You have no right watching a person's every move. Gee you must be the US government.
I feel like I'm going to end up paying more than 72 dollars for a monthly pass deductions are shown at the end of the day bought a 72 monthly pass on the first it's only the 5th and I am down to $59.50 smh
Yes. Pronto - San Diego is quiet safe to use but use with caution. This is based on our NLP (Natural language processing) analysis of over 24,035 User Reviews sourced from the Appstore and the appstore cumulative rating of 4.6/5 . Justuseapp Safety Score for Pronto Is 38.7/100.
Yes. Pronto - San Diego is legit, but not 100% legit to us. This conclusion was arrived at by running over 24,035 Pronto - San Diego User Reviews through our NLP machine learning process to determine if users believe the app is legitimate or not. Based on this, Justuseapp Legitimacy Score for Pronto Is 57.9/100..
Pronto - San Diego works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or Contact Support.
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.
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.
Add money to your PRONTO app, then scan your phone at the validator each trip you make.
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.
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.
You can track your progress toward a Day or Month Pass in the PRONTO app.
With PRONTO, you can pay-as-you-go* by adding money to your PRONTO account with a credit or debit card.
*Pay-as-you go features not available for COASTER (must prepay for Day or Month Pass).
PRONTO makes buying fares for MTS and NCTD easier than ever.
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.
