Several Newcastle paper bus tickets have ‘retired’ to make way for Opal smart card transitioning
Transitioning to the Opal smart card ticketing in NSW has meant ‘retiring’ several paper bus and ferry paper tickets in Newcastle.
NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian says with local buses and ferries on track to have electronic ticketing by the end of the year, 11 rarely used Newcastle bus and Stockton Ferry paper tickets have now ‘retired’.
“The Opal rollout is almost complete and as we prepare for all buses in Newcastle and the Hunter to go live with Opal technology by the end of the year, the NSW Government needs to retire a small number of paper tickets,” she says.
“The tickets being retired account for less than one per cent of all public transport tickets sold in Newcastle each year.
“It is not possible to both update the technology on buses to cater for Opal and keep selling these tickets.
Berejiklian says there were more than 100 different ticket types in circulation under the previous government which she claims made public transport confusing for customers.
“Opal puts an end to queuing for tickets, fumbling for coins, and having to work out which ticket you need depending on which mode of transport you’re catching.
“With Opal you only need to get your card once, and then you can either set your card to auto top up, like an e-tag, or you can manually top up.
“As well as the added convenience, Opal is cheaper for the overwhelming majority of customers, with daily fare caps, $2.50 Sunday travel and free travel after eight journeys in a week.”
Opal is now live on 4,300 buses, including services across the Hunter and Lake Macquarie regions.
Berejiklian says STA buses in the Newcastle CBD and the Stockton Ferry will have Opal before December 26.