Sydney Open Payment Trial for public transport expanded
In July 2017 Cubic Transportation Systems and Transport for NSW began a trial of a contactless payment system using Mastercard for fares on the Manly ferry service. Yesterday it expanded the trial, allowing customers on the entire Sydney ferry and light rail network to pay for fares this way.
Additionally, ferry and light rail customers can now not only use their Mastercard, but also Visa and American Express cards. This is not to replace the current Opal card, but to open up more ways of using the contactless payment system for fares.
To date over 15,000 passengers have used their Mastercard to tap on for contactless fare payment on the Manly Ferry. This is on top of the 14 million trips per week paid for with the Opal card across the city’s entire public transport system.
“In New South Wales (NSW), we know transport is no longer just about infrastructure but also about embracing technology to provide the best services possible for our customers,” said Andrew Constance, NSW transport minister. “The integration of contactless transport payments into the Opal ticketing system makes the purchasing of one-off fares quick, easy and seamless, providing choice and convenience to customers.”
“Australians are keen adapters of technology and we expect to see a rapid adoption of contactless here,” said Tom Walker, senior vice president and managing director of Cubic Transportation Systems Asia-Pacific. “In addition, Cubic is continually evolving Opal to take advantage of best-of-breed technology developments that the company is investing in and deploying around the world.”
And Sydney’s trains and buses?
The open payment system will be rolled out to the Sydney Trains network toward the end of the year, and then to Sydney’s bus network in early 2019.
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