Moscow – After a year of implementation, Russia’s capital city, Moscow, has become the global leader in fare payment using biometric technology.
Last year, from January to December, Moscow’s transport sector implemented a large-scale modernisation program for its ticketing system.
Key priorities included the introduction of domestically produced equipment, the expansion of biometric services, and the launch of virtual solutions for privileged categories of citizens.
By the end of 2025, the fare payment service using biometric technology was available at 100% of the metro and Moscow Central Circle turnstiles.
- 700,000 users are already registered in the system.
- 192 million trips have been made using biometrics since the project’s launch. No other megacity in the world has implemented this technology on such a massive scale.
“Today, Moscow Transport is a global leader in the number of convenient fare payment methods,” stated Maksim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport and Industry, in a statement made available to The Bulrushes.
“Following the directive of Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, we pay special attention to the development of the most advanced services.
“For example, in 2025, biometric technology became fully operational at all metro and MCC turnstiles.
“We are also developing this technology for the Moscow Central Diameters.”
Infrastructure Upgrade: Faster and More Powerful
In 2025, Moscow metro stations began introducing a new generation of Russian-made equipment:
- Innovative terminals: Six new-type devices were installed at Nizhegorodskaya, Kuntsevskaya, VDNKh, and Medvedkovo stations. Thanks to modern hardware, passenger service speed doubled.
- Smart turnstiles: Seven compact turnstiles were activated at Terminal 1 of Nizhegorodskaya MGV.
- Capacity: +40%
- Speed: +20%
- Inclusivity: Vibration feedback and color indicators were added for the convenience of visually and hearing-impaired passengers
Digital Services for Youth and Comfortable Travel.
The past year marked a transition to fully virtual solutions:
Virtual Muscovite Card: Testing began for smartphone fare payment for students. The QR-based service will be available to all students in the Metro Moscow app starting in 2026.
Automatic Activation: Passengers no longer need to search for yellow terminals to load funds onto their cards. The feature is now available on 3 000 tram validators (nearly 950 000 uses in the year). The technology will be scaled to buses and electric buses
