TfNSW: Time to tap into Opal – majority of paper tickets to be phased out →

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Beau

The retirement of paper tickets continues, with pretty much every paper ticket being withdrawn from sale as of next year.

Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said: “Given the enormous success of Opal, it’s time to stop running two ticketing systems.
“Opal is one of the great improvements to our public transport network, and it’s the right time we take the next logical step to one convenient system,” Mr Constance said.
From January 1, 57 paper ticket products will no longer be sold. Customers should start preparing now to upgrade to Opal, so getting around is simpler and cheaper.
The next stage of Opal means customers will only be able to purchase adult and concession single or return tickets for trains, ferries, light rail plus singles for buses.

To give customers more of a prod, opal.com.au has a pretty good summary of how ‘unpopular’ paper tickets are becoming;

We know that customers love their Opal cards. There are now more than 3,300,000 cards issued and the number grows steadily every week.
At the same time, there has been a significant fall in the number of paper tickets being sold. For example:
Nearly 80% fall in sales of the MyBus TravelTen over the past 12 months
89% fall in sales of the Adult and Concession MyMulti tickets over the past 12 months
Almost 50% fall in sales of the Pensioner Excursion Tickets over the past 12 months
72% fall in sales for the Light Rail Weekly over the past 12 months
94% fall in sales of the MyFerry TravelTen in the past 12 months
Almost 70 per cent of all public transport trips are now with Opal
Figures: Bureau of Transport Statistics as at May 2014 – May 2015

Opal Revenue Protection App: Shortlisted 2015 Sydney Design Awards →

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Beau

Great to see that Transport for NSW’s Transport Officers get to use such a beautifully designed app to make their jobs easier – the ability to quickly check the status of an Opal card from the one smartphone device they’re already carrying for work.

The Opal card uses near field communication (NFC) technology that allows users to tap on and off at card readers across the Opal public transport network. ORPA takes advantage of this same type of technology, which is available on Android smartphones, to read the data on Opal cards. The app checks free read data as well as encrypted content stored on the card, and replaces the existing, single function, read-only portable readers that Transport Officers used to carry.
ORPA is a great example of how mobile technology creates great opportunities for organisations to streamline their operations while also building in flexibility for changes in the future.

More information on ORPA on Outware’s website available here.

Nine News Sydney: Opal Card users could be overcharged →

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Beau

Tonight’s Nine News Sydney had a segment on the number of Opal card users and their default fares.

Between August 2014 and October 2014, customers were ‘overcharged’ 1,205,556 times, with fares worth $6,228,928. By ‘overcharged’, they mean copped a default fare.

In October 2014, customers incurred 508,067 default fares.

From this, than 6% of default fares become enquiries for refunds.

According to the Transport Minister, more than 135 million trips have been taken with the Opal card, with the percentage of default fares across all modes being 1-2%.

Nine News Sydney reports that the default fare percentage on buses can be up to 5%.

And then you have people like this…. tapping on at the gate next to you.

Meanwhile, tonight’s story explains the post on the Transport for NSW Facebook page about what to do if you forget to tap off..

TfNSW/ePay denying new Opal card retailer applications →

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Beau

According to the Newsagents Association of NSW & ACT, ePay are now denying new applicants who wish to become Opal card retailers. There are currently just over 1,800 retailers, including every 7Eleven, a handful of Woolworths stores, and an assortment of newsagents and other outlets,

Newsagents across NSW who have recently submitted applications to become Opal Card Retailers via Epay Australia have been denied and/or placed on a waiting list.
Epay Australia have confirmed that they have reached their quota and will work with Transport NSW to assess applications on a case by case basis.

Will be interesting to see how this plays out, with the announcement of separate Opal vending machines this year (starting with top up only machines).

Hopefully this is only a minor break before continuing with bringing more retailers onboard, as 1800 sure seems like an arbitrary number…

Reddit: Opal and discontiguous train journeys →

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Beau

The idea is to increase the number of journeys on your Opal card as close to the max as possible in a short time. This can save a lot of money if you have a longer commute, want to use a lot of ferries, etc.
Take a train to Ersko or Mac’town, tap off as normal
Walk to the other station, tap on
Walk back, tap off
Repeat until you have enough journeys!
My return journeys took about 10 minutes each as you can see in my history, but this could be a lot faster with a bicycle.
Notes:
You can’t do this in the City, as transfers between city stations don’t count as a new journey
You can’t ride the train when tapped off, hence why you must walk between stations (which is a lot faster in this case anyway) . If you wanted to do something similar actually riding the trains, it would take two cards.
You have to stop once the daily cap of $15 is reached, which means you can only get 7 journeys this way in a single go.
The above stations are picked since they are close to each other and have Opal readers (without barriers) near the footpath.
It might be a good business opportunity for a student or bicycle courier – collect people’s Opal cards on Monday, rack up the journeys and return the cards for a small fee. You could tap on multiple cards at once I suppose. I’m not sure how many times you could do this before the station staff might notice and start asking questions 🙂

(via SilverStar9192 on Reddit)

TfNSW: Opal bus rollout reaches halfway mark as more buses in Western Sydney go live →

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Beau

Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian today announced Opal will go live on another 720 buses in Western Sydney, North Sydney and Sutherland in the next week, as the rollout of Opal on buses passes the halfway mark.
Next Tuesday 26 August 330 buses across Western Sydney and the Sutherland Shire will go live with Opal, giving thousands more customers access to cheaper fares and more convenient travel. Opal will also expand onto all State Transit buses in North Sydney from today.
Ms Berejiklian said these latest milestones mean customers can now tap on and tap off all suburban and intercity trains, all Sydney Ferries, and from next week, 2,890 buses across Sydney.

Sydney’s Opal Card: Now available from retailers

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Beau

The availability of Opal cards from retailers is imminent, with many retailers already receiving stock and some already selling the cards.
As of August 1st, there are just under 1,000 Opal card retailers across greater Sydney.

The Opal card itself is ‘free’, however you are required to top it up at the same time. Continue reading →

The Opal Card User

Words from the guy with the 273rd Opal card

Tag Archives: Opal