Couple of niche observations about contactless on Opal (since I last gave it a go with light rail)
1) The sound emitted from the train readers is the normal Adult sound, instead of the lower pitched concession-fare sound you get from the Light Rail readers (wonder how they decide )
2) The on-screen text changed from (Debit Card - OK) to (Tap Success)
Familiar with the sinking feeling that you’ve left your Opal card behind? Life just got easier with more ways to pay a standard, peak Adult Opal fare.
They forgot to mention that sinking feeling when the top up machine is out of order, or you arrive at a station or wharf that requires you to travel on the train or ferry to the nearest retailer
Battery levels
Planning to use your phone or smartwatch as a contactless payment method? If your device’s battery is getting low, be sure to charge it before you leave the house. If you tap on with a device, you will need to be able to show it to a transport officer during your trip.
Here's hoping your battery doesn't drop from 80% to not being able to switching it on at all due to that product obsolesce!
Just wondering, when you do an online recharge, can it take up to a week for the credit to appear like it does with the Adelaide 'system'? Or is it done within 24 hours?
It's the same with the validation history. It often takes days to show up. But the Adelaide DPTI doesn't give a toss about customer opinion. They just want the money.
For online and phone top ups, you can access your new balance in as little as 15 minutes for trains, ferries and light rail. Allow up to 60 minutes for buses.
I've topped up online and had the balance there 10 minutes later on the bus, so your mileage may vary but it's never too long.
TA3001 wrote:Just wondering, when you do an online recharge, can it take up to a week for the credit to appear like it does with the Adelaide 'system'? Or is it done within 24 hours?
It's the same with the validation history. It often takes days to show up. But the Adelaide DPTI doesn't give a toss about customer opinion. They just want the money.
For topups and history, in theory it should be done within 10 minutes. The only possible delay is that a bus you take is having issues connecting to the server, which happens sometimes. If this happens, transaction history can sometimes be lost, as there is limited memory on the BV. Online, this will show up as XYZ to unknown or unknown to unknown. The system can work out how much to deduct for the lost journey, as the correct amount is always charged to the card (of course given that the AVL is working).
moa999 wrote:Posted over at Whirlpool, being displayed at a number of city stations
Possibly suggesting change is coming soon.
In theory this shouldn't be too hard to implement?
Just recode Opal so that no tap off allowed if the balance goes into the negative, top up machine on the paid side of the gates. I really don't know why they are still sitting on it, this is old news now
TRAIN passengers using a loophole to escape paying full fares to Sydney Airport will be stopped at the turnstiles in a state government crackdown on Opal fraud.
From January 7, gates at the domestic and international stations will not open for cardholders who don’t have enough credit for the trip, ending a practice Transport Minister Andrew Constance called “straight out theft”.
New “gate readers” will be installed inside the stations to show how much passengers owe on their Opal cards.
If they are the short, they will be forced to use new top-up machines near the exits.
andy_centralcoast wrote:Channel 7 news had an "exclusive" report last night that Opal barriers at the Airport stations will be upgraded to prevent people tapping off unless they have a minimum $20 balance.
^ From July... so it took them more than 6 months to implement!
Also those posters should tell people what the fee is, because people who go to the airport very rarely probably won't know how much they need to top up. I think I was short a couple of dollars once because I didn't know that the fee had been increased since last time I went to the airport.
Un who's calling “straight out theft”? No Andrew CONstance, you're the one that's straight out thieving" by having the access fee still there.
Should be no access fee at all. They removed the access fee to Green Square & Mascot (just before an election), so they can easily remove the access fee to International & Domestic stations if they really wanted to.
Although to avoid the access fees, just use the route 400.
White lives matter too. Australia Day 26th Jan, the most important day in Australia as is 19 April, Cook's discovery of eastern Australia
Newcastle Flyer wrote:
Should be no access fee at all. They removed the access fee to Green Square & Mascot (just before an election), so they can easily remove the access fee to International & Domestic stations if they really wanted to.
Green Square & Mascot access fee is still there - it just paid by the government to the consortium instead of being paid directly by the users. After the 'removal' of the fee, the usage of the two stations went up considerably, considerably increasing the cost to the government over original estimates.
The government gets a cut on the airport station access fees - that probably gets funnelled back to pay the Green Square & Mascot fees in a classic money-go-round move.
Newcastle Flyer wrote:
Should be no access fee at all. They removed the access fee to Green Square & Mascot (just before an election), so they can easily remove the access fee to International & Domestic stations if they really wanted to.
Green Square & Mascot access fee is still there - it just paid by the government to the consortium instead of being paid directly by the users. After the 'removal' of the fee, the usage of the two stations went up considerably, considerably increasing the cost to the government over original estimates.
The government gets a cut on the airport station access fees - that probably gets funnelled back to pay the Green Square & Mascot fees in a classic money-go-round move.
I wonder if there would be some sort of "bulk buy" discount and capping when the government negotiated to bear the Green Square & Mascot access fee.
Newcastle Flyer wrote:
Should be no access fee at all. They removed the access fee to Green Square & Mascot (just before an election), so they can easily remove the access fee to International & Domestic stations if they really wanted to.
Green Square & Mascot access fee is still there - it just paid by the government to the consortium instead of being paid directly by the users. After the 'removal' of the fee, the usage of the two stations went up considerably, considerably increasing the cost to the government over original estimates.
The government gets a cut on the airport station access fees - that probably gets funnelled back to pay the Green Square & Mascot fees in a classic money-go-round move.
According to a 2014 government Standing Committee report, the government has to "compensate" the Airport Link Company a fixed fee of $2.08 for every entry and exit at Green Square and Mascot.
Since 2014, Transport NSW gets to keep 85% of the station access fee revenue (up from 50% in 2013).
Are there any figures on what the final revenue for the government actually is, once the Mascot / Green Square offset and AirportLink 15% profit are taken into account ?
jpp42 wrote:Are there any figures on what the final revenue for the government actually is, once the Mascot / Green Square offset and AirportLink 15% profit are taken into account ?
From the 2018 Budget Estimates Hearings:
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/Pages/budget-estimates.aspx wrote:
Ms CATE FAEHRMANN: How much revenue has the government received over the past four years from the station access fee on the Airport Rail Link?
Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE: Over the past 4 years the Government received the total net revenue amount of $197.6 million (FY15-FY18).
Ms CATE FAEHRMANN: What is the projected revenue over the next 4 years?
Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE: The projected revenue would be Commercial in Confidence.
Ms CATE FAEHRMANN: Has the Government undertaken any modelling as to the cost of removing or reducing station access fees for both airport stations?
Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE: Paying the Access Fee at the airport stations would cost the NSW Government in the order of $1.5 billion over the next twelve years.
I find it amusing that he refuses to answer the projected revenue over 4 years but then shares a 12 year figure!
andy_centralcoast wrote:Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE: Paying the Access Fee at the airport stations would cost the NSW Government in the order of $1.5 billion over the next twelve years.
Is that like 87% of statistics are completely made up?
A few years ago they said $600m over 30 years, now it's like a 500% increase.
I would put my house on both figures ignoring the 85% of the "surplus revenue" reverting to the government.
Wasn't this figure under oath if it was in estimates?
In 2011 the New South Wales Parliamentary Budget Office did an analysis showing that the Government could buy out the rail line for $300 million.
The additional revenue from the airport stations is an absolute cash cow for the government. If you were in government which would you prefer: spend $300m (recorded as an expenditure - negative on the balance sheet!) in one fell swoop and lose all forthcoming revenue, or not spend $300m (no expenditure of around four to five years of the 2016-7 FY revenue amount - and only projected to grow even further) AND keep all the forthcoming revenue?
Easy sums.
At the current $87m revenue per annum it could pay for a few of the forthcoming upgrades to T4 and T8 lines once the $$$$ is saved up. A free election war chest.
Earlier this year the Airport Link Company tried to renegotiate the contract with the government to receive a larger share of the station access fee. The government currently gets 85%. They proposed to make a large upfront payment to the government in return for a greater share of the fee revenue up until 2030.
Not sure if the government accepted the proposal. They initially said it was of “sufficient interest and merit to warrant further consideration”.
The article also claimed the government would receive $100 million revenue this year from the station access fee.
swtt wrote:The additional revenue from the airport stations is an absolute cash cow for the government. If you were in government which would you prefer: spend $300m (recorded as an expenditure - negative on the balance sheet!) in one fell swoop and lose all forthcoming revenue, or not spend $300m (no expenditure of around four to five years of the 2016-7 FY revenue amount - and only projected to grow even further) AND keep all the forthcoming revenue?
Easy sums.
At the current $87m revenue per annum it could pay for a few of the forthcoming upgrades to T4 and T8 lines once the $$$$ is saved up. A free election war chest.
You are assuming that if the government bought the stations they would remove the fee. There is no reason this has to be done and even the political implications aren't convincing for doing so.
Interesting link andy. Hadn't seen that. I wonder if accepting that has increased the cost of buying it out? It could possibly explain the $1.5bn cost.
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