Wahroonga resident recognised for roll out of Opal cards in Sydney
When commuters zip through train station turnstiles to tap their Opal cards, it’s just another chore.
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When commuters zip through train station turnstiles to tap their Opal cards, it’s just another chore.
But Wahroonga’s Chris Bennetts gets a kick out of seeing the system in action — he was instrumental in its rollout.
As Transport for NSW’s executive director for digital products delivery, he led a team of 60 to implement the Opal card and is overseeing the rollout of credit cards as a contactless payment method.
His work has led to him being awarded a Public Service Medal and also recognised his key role in other Opal features, such as the app that allows commuters to top up their accounts.
“Today people are using apps every day,’’ the 43-year-old said.
“Back in 2012, none of that existed.”
Being in charge of more than 3.2 million active Opal Card customers’ cards might seem like a daunting task but Mr Bennetts found it exciting and ultimately successful.
“Transformation in Sydney and NSW with ticketing systems can be hard to implement and that we could do it seamlessly was unheard of before,’’ he said.
“There had been a failed target many years before with the previous government.
“If you’ve got the political backing and the department now and know how, you can get anything done.”
Despite delays and overcrowding, Mr Bennetts believes the nation’s commuters have it good.
“I actually think Australia’s public transport system is very sophisticated and very advanced,’’ he said.
“We’re always comparing ourselves to Singapore and London and other places in the world but when you look at the technology they’re using, we’re actually advanced in that stuff.”
He says we are advanced with credit card payments.
“When it comes to contact-less payment, there’s so few places that have done it and the only place to go to (for consultation) is Transport for London,’’ he said.
“They’ve had it for a couple of years now. It makes it really easy for customers and tourists, that’s the power of contact-less payments. But there’s always a place for Opal.”
A Queenslander by birth, Mr Bennetts, his wife Ai Hui Chung and two children, Connor, 12, and Sophia, 8, moved to Sydney after he worked in product development for Hewlett Packard and Nokia in Finland.
“With Hornsby, it’s 20-minutes’ drive to Berowra, we go to Lane Cove National Park and the Northern Beaches,’’ he said.
“I can’t think of a better place to work.”