TriMet, which provides bus, light rail and commuter rail transit services in the Portland, Oregon metro area, is working with Google for what the companies are calling an industry first: a virtual transit card available in Android Pay.

TriMet's partnership with Android Pay is the first such mobile wallet partnership for the agency. Beta testing for the integration starts later this month, according to a press release.

As part of the beta, a select group of TriMet, C-TRAN, and Portland Streetcar testers will load a virtual Hop card into Android Pay — giving them the ability to tap their phones to pay for fares and receive all the benefits of a physical Hop card. Currently, TriMet riders are able to tap their smartphones with Android Pay at a Hop reader and pay for a ride using a debit or credit card, but that is limited to just the purchase of an adult fare.

Additional benefits of the Hop card integration include:

• The ability to purchase youth, honored citizen or adult fares.
• Easily reload value online or set up auto-reload.
• Earn a day pass or month pass with no upfront cost. Once the cost of a day pass is reached, the rest of the rides are free that day. Similarly, once the cost of a month pass is reached, the rest of the rides that month are free.