We've been seeing signs for a little while that Google Pay was readying transit ticket support, with the website even being updated to confirm as much. We've been furiously checking the app to see if there's any sign of the feature, only to be disappointed each time. Now, Google has made transit tickets on Google Pay official.

According to the blog post, compatibility with both prepaid tickets and passes is exclusive to the Las Vegas Monorail right now, with more cities and transit agencies to be added soon. If you live in Vegas, head to the LV Monorail site and purchase a ticket, then select the 'Save to phone' option with the Google Pay logo next to it. When you go through a fare gate simply hold your phone to the terminal as you would with any other contactless transaction.

The Google Pay app will show you recent trips you've made and even direct you to the nearest monorail station, so it looks like a pretty filled-out solution. Google doesn't say which cities support will arrive at next, but hopefully, it won't be too long before we find out.

It looks like Vegas' comparatively small Monorail system is being used as a test run so any issues can be worked out before a wider launch. Alternatively, it could be that NXP’s MIFARE contactless technology used in Vegas was easier to integrate with than other platforms. The UK and Australian Google Pay about pages have also been updated to mention public transport, so that suggests the rollout is imminent. Only time will tell.

If you live in Vegas and you give this a try, do let us know how it fares [sorry-not-sorry].

Google Wallet Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
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Thanks: Sam

Source: Google