The " Opal Card " era !

Many commuter journeys in Sydney involve a mix of buses, trains and ferries, but the ticketing system required separate tickets to be bought for each stage of the journey.  We were out of step with the rest of the world - and  even the other states had an advanced system up and working.

The previous state government wasted millions trying to implement something similar to the famous London " Oyster card "  - and failed miserably.  Deadlines came - and went.  There always seemed to be an impenetrable maize of obstacles to a universal card that would cope with all three forms of transport.

The present state government tried a " slow and steady " approach.  Their new " Tap and Ride " was named the " Opal card " and was cautiously implemented first on the harbour ferry system.   This allowed the organizers to rid the system of any " bugs " with the least public inconvenience, and now the Opal card is rapidly extending into the public transport system.

Next week it will be applied to the north shore rail line and to an additional twenty ferry wharfs west of the Harbour bridge.   That will mean the card readers will be operating at 699 points that encompass forty wharves and seventeen rail stations. Next year, for the first time " Tap and Ride " will open to service the city bus fleet.

We have come a long way since the days of long cheques waiting for paper tickets and the daily fumble for change that delayed the boarding process. It also opens up an enticing opportunity to regulate the fare system to encourage off peak travel.

The business community needs to have a long and careful appraisal of the opportunities offered.     If off peak travel fares can be an inducement to come and shop then perhaps that is the answer to bringing on-line customers back to bricks and mortar stores.   The on-line people usually offer price reduced items for a limited time period.   Introducing a similar time factor to off peak pricing in store could change buying habits.

At last the long awaited Opal card is about to bring a facelift to public transport. Now the government needs to see that public transport in it's three forms is providing the service times that people require - and that it is clean and safe,with adequate customer security in place.

Meeting those needs might be the " magic mix " to attain the long cherished dream of getting people to leave the car at home - and use public transport !