Opal Discussion and Observations

[Tonymercury]

She'll say anything to stay in power.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/opal-smartcar ... 2ufpj.html

She's a politician, so doesn't that just come with the territory?

[Jurassic_Joke]

I'm not saying I'm a Labour supporter either, nor do I disagree with your statement (i agree) - I'm merely pointing out an example of something (dishonesty) that disgusts me. Backflip Baird? Time to come up with an similar acronym for Gladys

She conveniently failed to mention the benefits of her new travel reward - how many people now make more than 8 tripsa week? I wager its well below 30% now.

[molybtek]

Not to mention, they did not increase the transfer discount in line with increases to fares as IPART recommended.

[simonl]

Wow, except that I don't think she actually lied in any of that and I would take that wager that more than 30% of people who make at least one trip in a week make more than 8, I completely agree with the above. She did however take the credit for a contract signed under Labor.

[boronia]

Politicians never lie. They are just very adept at not telling the truth.

[simonl]

Well, rarely.

[moa999]

It was a very selective quoting of the facts.
Would be interesting to see whether total fare box or average weekly spend has shifted as a result of the changes.

[andy_centralcoast]

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/1 ... -12-months

Gladys is quoted in the article saying:
"I don't know how we managed before the Opal Card, those Monday morning queues for your paper ticket."

Hasn't she seen the queues now? All day long, every day at Wynyard station there's 2 Opal single ticket & top-up machines that have a line of at least 10 people waiting every time I've walked past recently.

[GazzaOak]

Hasn't she seen the queues now? All day long, every day at Wynyard station there's 2 Opal single ticket & top-up machines that have a line of at least 10 people waiting every time I've walked past recently.

I laugh at people who line up.... and i only see it during afternoon peak..... not so much in the morning or lunchtime... so that fairly normal enough

[boronia]

Same at Town Hall and Central.

At Town Hall, Woolworths have two booths open for top ups as well. With so many options available for top ups, I'm left wondering why people leave it till the last minute? Or are they all buying single trip tickets?

[Jurassic_Joke]

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/1 ... -12-months

Gladys is quoted in the article saying:
"I don't know how we managed before the Opal Card, those Monday morning queues for your paper ticket."

Hasn't she seen the queues now? All day long, every day at Wynyard station there's 2 Opal single ticket & top-up machines that have a line of at least 10 people waiting every time I've walked past recently.

Oh back in the day, id do the same thing. Buy a MyMulti ready for use the upcoming week from a news agency at a quiet time, on a Sunday. Voila, I can skip the Monday morning queue. Just like today, on a Sunday, I top up my Opal at a machine when I get off a train, ready for the following week.

I don't see whats so difficult about doing that, to some other people, and yes, I too laugh at people stuck in the queues in the arvo peak at Town Hall and Wynyard because thats your fault for leaving it to the last minute

[swtt]

Same at Town Hall and Central.

At Town Hall, Woolworths have two booths open for top ups as well. With so many options available for top ups, I'm left wondering why people leave it till the last minute? Or are they all buying single trip tickets?

The ability to use Amex credit cards, as well as rack up Woolworths Rewards points.

[boronia]

Gladys is quoted in the article saying:
"I don't know how we managed before the Opal Card, those Monday morning queues for your paper ticket."

Hasn't she seen the queues now? All day long, every day at Wynyard station there's 2 Opal single ticket & top-up machines that have a line of at least 10 people waiting every time I've walked past recently.

Oh back in the day, id do the same thing. Buy a MyMulti ready for use the upcoming week from a news agency at a quiet time, on a Sunday. Voila, I can skip the Monday morning queue. Just like today, on a Sunday, I top up my Opal at a machine when I get off a train, ready for the following week.

I don't see whats so difficult about doing that, to some other people, and yes, I too laugh at people stuck in the queues in the arvo peak at Town Hall and Wynyard because thats your fault for leaving it to the last minute

Back in the day, you could buy your weekly on a Friday afternoon and it was valid through to the end of the following week, or you could "top up" a magnetic weekly any time to add 7 days to the existing balance. But no, everyone wanted to queue up on the Monday morning to do it.

[Swift]

Sydney people never cease to annoy.

[moa999]

Sydney people never cease to annoy.

Hence why I have no sympathy for those lining up, apart from the tourists slowed down by locals stupidity

[pgt]

Back in the day, you could buy your weekly on a Friday afternoon and it was valid through to the end of the following week, or you could "top up" a magnetic weekly any time to add 7 days to the existing balance. But no, everyone wanted to queue up on the Monday morning to do it.

I'd say it was habit forming, but it's been a _really_ long time since the old TravelPass tickets were valid Monday to Sunday - I'm going back to pre magstripe tickets here and remember selling them at my parent's newsagency (going back to early 1990s), having to set the 3 digit number to stamp on the tickets every Monday morning from a document circulated to ticket sellers.

[Passenger 57]

Opal ferry ticket machines sell tickets to destinations that require transfers so presumably some transfers are allowed contrary to the name of the ticket. They are also priced as a single journey rather than 2 separate ones. Can anyone verify that transfers are indeed possible on these tickets and provide any information on what Opal transfer behaviour is available on single "trip" tickets?

[Fleet Lists]

Have you actually tried to buy such tickets or are they suppressed when you try to buy such a ticket?

[swtt]

Opal ferry ticket machines sell tickets to destinations that require transfers so presumably some transfers are allowed contrary to the name of the ticket. They are also priced as a single journey rather than 2 separate ones. Can anyone verify that transfers are indeed possible on these tickets and provide any information on what Opal transfer behaviour is available on single "trip" tickets?

https://www.opal.com.au/en/get-an-opal- ... e-tickets/


Start from: What if I change my mind after purchasing an Opal single trip ticket about where I want to go?
- I think the "transfer" is only for ferry transfers, e.g. Parramatta to Watsons Bay, much like changing trains.

However the difference with the ferry would be having to tap off and then on again at Circ Quay, whereas the train would not require such tapping on/off to change as it would still be in the paid area (except Blacktown???)

[Passenger 57]

Have you actually tried to buy such tickets or are they suppressed when you try to buy such a ticket?

Yes, I tried without actually paying. The interface is also far too complex if inter-wharf transfers are not allowed for most routes. My perception is that the whole process of buying a ticket now is slower than with the previous machines,

I wonder if integrated casual fares have been offered on Sydney ferries before. If they have it might be before the travel ten and token eras.

I'm also told but have not confirmed for myself that it is no longer possible to buy tickets on arrival at the paid area of the wharf at Circular Quay. This seems a retrograde step. According to a ferry hand those without tickets are allowed through the barriers if RPOs are not present.

The ticket machine I regularly walk past seems to have near weekly partial pink light failures - typically displaying "top up only" or only accepting card payments. More frequently though typically only for a period of a few minutes the machine will display a red light and not do either. A loss of communications is my best guess as to the most likely reason. The light seems like a good idea in that it might save you from having to walk all the way to a machine only to find it is malfunctioning. Unfortunately with a pink light you'll still need to walk to the machine and may be out of luck.

Bonus bit of uselss information. A Cubic engineer I encountered asked me to move away and claimed that he was not allowed to open the machine when people are nearby,

[Jurassic_Joke]

Guess who’s now been given a Court Attendance Notice?

https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/3785072 ... and-fined/

Play dumb, break the rules and be a smart-arse about it too, and karma will catch up with you. Have fun. Meow meow!

[moa999]

I wonder if they recorded the chip/card ID number so can de-activate it.

Will be interesting for the judge/magistrate

Interpreting the no tampering clause etc versus proof that the 'core' of the card remains active and presumably proof that that it was validly tapped on and off on that journey and thus it was properly paid for.

[Passenger 57]

I don't think the charge of not having a valid ticket will stand up. For Opal the ticket is represented electronically. If he tapped on then he had a valid ticket. Violations of the Opal TOU are not necessarily violations of the Passenger Transport Act. They could however cancel his card and keep the balance without going through the courts. If they do it often enough he may give up until contactless becomes a complete alternative to a reloadable Opal card. Prosecuting him is counter productive - all it does is give him further publicity and public sympathy, makes them look bad and encourages copy cats. They would be smarter to withdraw the charge and try to get some positive publicity about how forward looking they are. Visa is promoting "wearables." There are various providers here in partnership with Heritage Bank. I can imagine that in a larger market "implantables" might be a thing. I wouldn't be at all surprised if one of the current wearable providers offered implantables as a publicity stunt if they can manage to look cool rather than icky.

[boronia]

This was another Opal related issue in the news this week
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/court-overtur ... zmfze.html

[Tonymercury]

A ruling that is convenient for the Government.