Sneaky Opal card loophole that let passengers game system closed

THE sneaky trick that allowed savvy passengers on NSW’s public transport to game the ticketing system has been shut off for good.

NSW Governmnt slow in rolling out Opal card top up machines at railway stations and bus interchanges causing frustration amon...

THE loophole that allowed savvy passengers to game Sydney’s Opal card system has been closed.

Until today, tapping your card at different stops many times in quick succession would soon get you to the magical eight trips, after which all travel is free for the rest of the week.

Sneaky travellers have been jumping off the bus and back on another to score extra journeys, or taking short trips to increase their tally in the public transport ticketing system.

It also led to a practice called “Opal running”, in which people run, cycle, drive or rollerskate between stops to tap their card, which the government says could cost taxpayers millions of dollars a year.

This is typically done between light rail and train stops located close together, such as Macdonaldtown and Erskineville.

NSW Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance today announced the ticketing system had been updated to stop people artificially reaching the reward.

One journey will now include up to seven transfers instead of three, so Opal users would need at least five hours to accumulate the rewards. At present, they can earn free travel within about 90 minutes, after only paying around $18.

“It’s unfair that customers doing the right thing and paying to actually use transport are being cheated by people who are using their own or other people’s cards to artificially inflate their journeys,” said Mr Constance. “Some are even using the practice as a business model to earn money.”

Passengers will no longer be able to tap their cards many times in quick succession to save money.

When the Opal card was introduced back in 2013, then-Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian even encouraged Sydneysiders to “beat the system” and make savings.

It has led to some enterprising users charging others to tap their cards at numerous locations. But it looks like the fun’s over.

“From today, the system will be updated to substantially disrupt those people who are improperly earning free travel, by raising the number of transfers needed to make a journey,” said Mr Constance.

“My message is that the changes are in operation as of now — so ‘Opal runners’ don’t have to bother. It’s not worth running out of steam.

“The system changes do not affect other customers because they are not the ones attempting to quickly get charged for more journeys, especially when transferring between light rail stops or train stations while travelling on the same journey.”

In a draft report released before Christmas, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal proposed even bigger changes to fares, including ending free travel after eight journeys.

IPART was due to deliver the report this month but it has now been delayed until the end of May.

NSW shadow transport spokesperson Jodi McKay said: “When it comes to Opal this Government is making it up as it goes along. One minute the Transport Minister — now Treasurer — is exhorting people to ‘beat the system’, now her successor is cracking down. It’s just another example of a system that’s in crisis.

“Where else in the world is there a system where you can’t buy a card or top it up at the station and where cards are regularly shown to be faulty? It’s one crisis after another.

“And all this before they whack commuters with massive fare increases on July 1 — with some commuters due to pay $959 more each year.”

Originally published as Sneaky Opal card loophole that let passengers game system closed