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

  • How C/AVs could serve rural communities
    July 23, 2019
    In Ireland, there is low population density and a lot of rain – which can make last-mile journeys a trial. Orla O’Halloran at Arup has some thoughts on how C/AVs could serve rural communities Connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) have the potential to be a vital link for people in rural communities, as part of a wider Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solution. That is the view of Orla O’Halloran, intelligent mobility consultant at Arup. She believes that MaaS needs to be considered in conjunction with ot
  • Ticketing wins for Xerox
    June 14, 2013
    Public transport solutions provider Xerox has been successful in winning orders for its ticketing systems, most recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Chihuahua, Mexico. In Kuala Lumpur, the company will supply its Atlas contactless ticketing system and equipment to public transport operator Mass Rapid Transit Corporation for a new railway line that will cross the urban area of the city. Over the next five years, Xerox’s field teams will deploy the ticketing system, install 300 gate controllers and 200 tick
  • Road traffic deaths still rising worldwide, says WHO report
    December 12, 2018
    Poor road safety worldwide is a serious cause for concern, with thousands being injured or killed across the glove every single day. The issue is highlighted by a new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This indicates road traffic deaths continue to rise, with annual road fatalities now reaching 1.35 million, compared with 1.25 million just three years ago. The WHO Global status report on road safety 2018 highlights that road traffic injuries are now the leading killer of children and young pe
  • 5.7 million fleet management systems in Europe by 2016
    August 6, 2012
    According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of active fleet management systems deployed in commercial vehicle fleets in Europe was 2.5 million in Q4-2011. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.9 per cent, this number is expected to reach 5.7 million by 2016.