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

  • More Americans relying on toll roads, says report
    July 3, 2015
    A new report issued by the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) in advance of the busy Fourth of July holiday travel season indicates that as Americans take to the roads this summer they will more often choose toll roads to get them to their destinations than in years past. The report, 2015 Report on Tolling in the US, reveals that the number of trips drivers have taken on tolls roads has increased 14 per cent over the last four years, rising from 5 billion trips in 2011 to 5.7 b
  • ITS Australia call for entries for National ITS Awards
    August 14, 2012
    ITS Australia has issued a call for entries for its annual National ITS Awards competition in three categories - ITS Excellence Award, Young Professional Encouragement Award, and Max Lay Life Time Achievement Award. The ITS Excellence Award is given for projects responding to one or more of the themes safety, mobility and/or environment. Within those themes, entries will be judged on how innovative, well developed, sustainable, transferable and interoperable the project is, its environmental effectiveness,
  • Kenya WIM system cuts four days off journey times
    March 18, 2014
    Shem Oirere looks at how weigh-in-motion is helping to streamline the trucking industry in Kenya. Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy, is streamlining trucking operations on its section of the 8,800km Northern Corridor. It is both reducing the number of weighbridges and automating the remaining ones in an effort to improve efficiency and eliminate corruption.The Northern Corridor is a major gateway through Kenya to the landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sou
  • Boost for roads and infrastructure in New South Wales budget
    June 23, 2016
    New South Wales infrastructure and services have received a boost in the 2016-17 budget. The government is investing US$15.3 billion (AU$20.2billion) in recurrent and capital funding, an increase of US$2.8 billion (AU$3.7 billion) on 2015-16. It is also providing significant funding for priority projects, including US$2.2 billion (AU$2.9 billion) for WestConnex, the largest transport project in Australia linking Sydney’s west and south-west with the CBD, the Airport and Port Botany. It will also provide