Sydney’s new smartcard ticketing system continues to roll its way across the city – whether Sydneysiders want it or not. Opal – not to be confused with the disastrous Tcard – now covers travel on all ferries, and train travel on the city circle, the Eastern Suburbs line, and the North Shore line as far as Chatswood.
Transport for NSW predict that the Opal rollout will be completed by the end of 2014, covering all ferry, bus and train services within Sydney, the Central Coast, the Hunter Region, the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands and Illawarra.
According to NSW Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian, more than 15,000 people have ordered Opal cards and have made 330,000 trips using the new technology since the rollout began late last year.
Berejiklian is very excited about the system. “It’s a really exciting time for our customers,” she said. “If you catch ferries or if you catch trains in those areas where we’ve got the Opal card, I really do encourage you to take it up.
Is it that exciting though? While Opal will certainly have its benefits – fewer queues and some discounted travel – it seems to have its downfalls too.
How it Works
Similar to the Oyster card in London and Myki in Melbourne, the Opal card is a smartcard ticketing system designed for travelling on public transport. Instead of using paper tickets, Opal cardholders pre-load their card with credit, and each time they take a trip, credit is taken off the card, depending on the length of the trip
The cardholder can top-up the card online or at certain vendors, or can alternatively set up an auto top-up, so the card is automatically topped up from their credit card when credit falls below a certain amount.
Eventually, there will be five different types of Opal card – Adult (black), Concession (silver), Senior/Pensioner (gold), Child/Youth (green) and Student (blue). However, in this roll-out stage, only Adult cards are available. Non-reloadable Opal cards will also apparently be introduced in the future.
Benefits of the Opal card
Opal card promoters are quick to talk of the system’s benefits, which include a $2.50 daily cap for all travel on Sundays, and a daily travel cap of $15 from Monday to Saturday. Cardholders are only charged for eight rides per week, so a commuter travelling two trips a day from Monday to Thursday can get unlimited free travel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The card also offers a further discount of 30% to all train journeys taken outside of peak travel times Monday to Friday, and all day on weekends. Using the card will also cut down on queues; it should cut down on paper; and it could be make public transport more accessible for visitors to Sydney.
And its Downfalls
Some problems should iron themselves out as people get used to the system. Problems such as forgetting to tap on and off. When this happens, the default maximum fare is deducted from the card. Some cardholders also complain of having to take their card out of their wallet to scan it, and would prefer to tap and go with the card still in their wallet.
Others complain that the system doesn’t offer weekly, monthly or yearly options that could save regular commuters money. There is also the issue of higher travel costs. Despite the various travel discounts, some commuters are complaining that they will have to pay more under the Opal system.
Commuters travelling from Wollongong to the city, for example, pay $218 for a monthly ticket on the current system. When Opal is introduced on that line, commuters will have to pay an extra $22 for the same number of trips. In other areas, quarterly ticket holders will lose out on $46-$120, while yearly ticket holders will have to pay $292-$720 more.
Opposition transport spokeswoman Penny Sharpe said, “The O’Farrell Government should come clean and admit that they are hiking public transport fares by stealth.”
Perhaps she could get that printed on a t-shirt. Berejiklian recently announced plans to launch a range of Sydney transport merchandise, similar to that of New York and London. Perfect for a transport system that is so lovingly referred to by its users as CityFail and Sh*ttyRail.
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