Is the Opal card on the way out? New advanced ticketing technology set to be introduced
MORE than seven million Opal cards have been issued across NSW, but the way we pay to use public transport is set to radically change.
NSW
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SYDNEY’S love affair with the Opal card could soon be over.
More than seven million of the ticket smartcards have been issued, but the way we pay to use public transport is set to radically change. The NSW government wants to introduce advanced ticketing technology to help people across the state get “from point A to point B” quicker, cheaper and more easily.
Imagine strolling on to a peak-hour bus and not having to fish around in your pocket or purse to find your electronic ticketing card or loose change to pay the fare.
Or walking into a train station without having to push through the crowds at the ticket barrier as you watch your train chug away from the platform. What about walking up to train ticket machine and being looked after, via a live video link, by a real customer service officer who can book your ticket as well as give advice on the best way to your destination.
This is the future of transport in Sydney according to one of the world leaders in ticketing technology, who has been invited to the government’s upcoming “Future Transport” summit.
Matthew Cole, president of Cubic Transportation Systems, the US firm which has the contract to operate and maintain Opal, predicts a time when all the information a transport provider needs to charge a passenger is stored on a person’s credit card or an app on their smartphone.
In this “contactless” system, the passenger simply has to make sure they are carrying the card or phone when they step onto a train, bus or ferry.
“Cities are starting to move away from the smartcard-based systems to the account-based systems,” Mr Cole said. “In London and Chicago you can just show up with your credit or debit card, which has a contactless chip in it.”
Transport for London is already using Cubic’s contactless technology. Commuters simply have to touch their credit, debit or charge cards, or even their mobile phones, on to the reader at the station or on the bus. Cole said this contactless system could be set up in Sydney within two years.
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