St. Petersburg Metro to Speed Up Biometric Fare Payments
City transit officials say the upgrade is intended to make biometric ticketing more practical during peak passenger traffic.
St. Petersburg Metro plans to significantly reduce the time required for biometric fare payments. The process currently takes about three seconds, but transit authorities aim to cut that to 1.8 seconds, according to Vadim Arsenyev, deputy head of the state-owned St. Petersburg Metro system.
Metro officials say the current transaction speed is too slow for heavy passenger traffic. During rush hours, delays at biometric turnstiles can create bottlenecks and crowding, reducing convenience for both residents and visitors.
To address the issue, the metro system plans to introduce deferred authorization technology, which is expected to accelerate biometric payment processing.
According to Arsenyev, the St. Petersburg Metro has recorded more than 50,000 biometric entries so far, including 11,900 transactions in April 2026 alone. Officials expect the upgraded system to increase biometric usage to at least 90,000 transactions per month.
