Skip to main content

New South Wales scraps paper tickets

New South Wales, Australia will move towards a modern integrated electronic ticketing system on public transport on 1 August, when the last of the old paper tickets will no longer be sold or accepted. Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said that customers have embraced Opal, with two million customers taking 13 million journeys a week. “Opal is being used for 95 per cent of all public transport trips,” Constance said. “Given the enormous success, it’s now time to stop running t
July 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
New South Wales, Australia will move towards a modern integrated electronic ticketing system on public transport on 1 August, when the last of the old paper tickets will no longer be sold or accepted.

Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said that customers have embraced Opal, with two million customers taking 13 million journeys a week. “Opal is being used for 95 per cent of all public transport trips,” Constance said.

“Given the enormous success, it’s now time to stop running two ticketing systems and move to one convenient system that enables future innovation.

“With the single electronic system we can move to the next stage in ticketing, with a customer trial in 2017 for tapping on with credit and debit cards.”

Since the roll-out of Opal began in December 2012 customers have taken 800 million trips and more than 7.5 million cards have been issued, including one million Gold Senior/Pensioner cards, 700,000 Child/Youth cards, and 350,000 School Opal cards.

A comprehensive information campaign will remind the remaining customers who don’t have Opal that it’s time to make the switch.

Related Content

  • US to field trial connected vehicle technology
    April 17, 2012
    The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced that the University of Michigan will conduct a road safety field trial in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which will include the installation of wireless devices in up to 3,000 vehicles in one location, to evaluate the effectiveness of connected vehicle technology to prevent crashes.
  • Transcore challenges perceptions, targets broader markets
    December 13, 2012
    In August this year, Tracy Marks took over the presidency of TransCore, succeeding John Simler, who has moved on to other roles within parent company Roper Industries. A 19-year veteran of the company, Marks describes himself as having been groomed for the job. Previously responsible for TransCore’s Southern region in the US, he also took on a series of roles, including the top job at United Toll Systems, as part of moves which were carefully choreographed to prepare him for where he is now. The appointmen
  • Mobilty schemes must consider the people who use them – and those who don’t
    September 6, 2018
    There is a temptation to present ITS as part of an endless upward curve towards better, easier, safer, quicker, and so on. But it is important to acknowledge that there can be (sometimes literally) bumps in the road. When mobility schemes go wrong, it’s not pretty. Take bicycle-share company oBike, which recently stopped its operations in Melbourne, Australia. Having no docking stations massively increases convenience for users – you can leave the bikes anywhere - but opens up the whole shebang to the threa
  • Kapsch announces distribution of 100 millionth OBU
    October 12, 2016
    ITS specialist Kapsch has used this week’s ITS World Congress in Melbourne to announce a major milestone: the distribution of 100 million of its on-board-units (OBUs). It held a celebratory function hosted by company CEO Georg Kapsch on Tuesday at its stand to mark this achievement, which it passed in January this year.