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

  • ACE report: private sector and user-pay for English roads
    May 16, 2018
    It’s one minute to midnight for funding England’s roads, according to a timely new report - and the clock’s big hand is pointing to some form of user-pay solution, reports David Arminas. Is there any way out of future user-pay funding for England’s highway infrastructure? The answer is a resounding ‘no’, according to the recently-published report Funding Roads for the Future. The 25-page document by the London-based Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) calls for a radical rethink about how to
  • Abertis offers breath of fresh air
    December 20, 2022
    The idea of congestion charging zones in cities is well-established. But in Valencia, Spain, the authorities are considering something slightly different – and it has clear implications for the road user charging debate. Adam Hill talks to Christian Barrientos of Abertis Mobility Services
  • Idaho adds human dimension to winter savings
    September 23, 2014
    Idaho leverages the increased capability and reliability of its road weather sensor network to reduce costs and prevent accidents. Weather-related accidents can form a significant chunk of an authorities’ annual road casualty statistics. While authorities cannot control the weather, the technology exists to monitor the road conditions and react with warnings to motorists and the treatment of icy or snow-covered roads. However, with all capital expenditure now placed under the microscope of public scrutiny,
  • Renée Amilcar: "I trust in transit, I rely on transit, and I love transit"
    June 12, 2025
    Renée Amilcar, UITP president and boss of Ottawa’s OC Transpo, talks to Adam Hill about relying on public transport, the importance of user experience – and what to expect from the upcoming UITP Summit 2025 in Hamburg…