Opal Discussion and Observations

Sydney / New South Wales Transport Discussion
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Fleet Lists »

That article is a lot of crap as far as Opal is concerned. Even worse than from the link posted by TonyP earlier today.
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tonyp
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by tonyp »

This must be Fake News Day for the Opal thread! :lol:
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Tonymercury »

tonyp wrote:This must be Fake News Day for the Opal thread! :lol:
And, in the usual fashion, reported on a number of so-called reputable outlets.

Apparently too much trouble for anyone to search for a proper source - a very common thing these days.

Later - So maybe the Murdoch press have had a leak about OpalPay and the private ferries?
tonyp
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by tonyp »

Daniel Bowen's take on the fake news:

https://www.danielbowen.com/2018/01/28/ ... t-options/
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by mandonov »

OpalPay expansion press release: https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/news-a ... on-to-opal
More private ferries tap on to Opal
Published27 Jan 2018
Ferry customers now have even more choice, with three major private ferry routes tapping on to the OpalPay system.

Services run by Sealink and Captain Cook Cruises running from Manly, Watsons Bay and Lane Cove will use OpalPay from January 30, after the successful rollout of the new system on the Manly Fast Ferry.

“Since launching OpalPay in December, it has smashed expectations, with customers completing 100,000 transactions,” Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said.

“We know how popular tap and go payments are and this rollout is about continuing to spread the convenience of Opal to a wider range of transport services, making journeys even easier for our customers.”

Customers will be able to use OpalPay on the following SeaLink/Captain Cook Cruises routes:

Manly – Darling Harbour, King St Wharf No. 2
Circular Quay – Lane Cove
Circular Quay – Watsons Bay
Customers on these routes will have the option to purchase the private operator’s fare using the available balance on their Opal card by simply tapping to pay at the SeaLink / Captain Cook Cruises point-of-sale device on board the vessel. Customers don’t tap on at an Opal reader and they don’t need to tap off.

“With the introduction of OpalPay, customers will no longer purchase an individual private ferry ticket, you can just tap your Opal card, giving customers greater flexibility with more public transport options and the convenience of one travel card to pay for more of their journeys,” Mr Constance said.

Cook Cruises Australia, part of the SeaLink Travel Group has provided ferry and cruising services across Sydney Harbour for four decades, with 22 vessels transporting more than 720,000 passengers across its service routes last year.

Unlike journeys made with an Opal card on regular public transport services, OpalPay trips do not contribute to Opal travel benefits or discounts. OpalPay trips are not included in benefit schemes offered by private transport operators.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

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https://transportnsw.info/news/2018/opa ... fast-ferry
Opal now accepted on SeaLink/Captain Cook Cruises and Manly Fast Ferry
Wednesday 31 January

You can now use your Opal card to pay for ferry trips on selected My Fast Ferry (Manly Fast Ferry) and SeaLink/Captain Cook Cruises services, thanks to OpalPay.

OpalPay is a convenient new way to pay your fare, allowing you to use your Opal card for more of your trips.

To use OpalPay, tap your Opal card onto the operator’s point-of-sale device when boarding the ferry. You will not need to tap off.

Adult and child fares are available but concession fares are not offered on all routes. Using OpalPay, you will be charged the operator’s ticket fare, which is not the same as a standard Opal fare. Check the operator’s fare before you travel to make sure you have sufficient funds on your Opal card to cover the trip.

You can use either an Adult Opal card, Child/Youth Opal card, Gold Senior/Pensioner Opal card or a Concession Opal card to pay with OpalPay, however you may be charged the full adult fare if you use a Gold Senior/Pensioner or Concession Opal card. Check with the operator before you tap to pay with OpalPay.

Look out for ‘OpalPay accepted here’ signs to see if you can pay with Opal.

Plan your trip with Trip Planner and check whether your transport service accepts OpalPay. ‘OpalPay is available’ will be displayed in trip results.

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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

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Fleet Lists wrote:
simonl wrote:Are there different wharves for the different destinations? There are at Circular Quay; perhaps if the same wharf serves both destinations, there are different readers?

Manly Fast Ferries also go to Watson's Bay via the Quarantine Station. I guess Opal can't be used on those services?

The cash fares don't put the most expensive price in the peak. A misprint, perhaps?
From Manly the service is to Darling Harbour via North Sydney (Jeffrey St) so same ferry according to the Transport Info timetable - I have circled one such trip in both directions - in fact in the timetable it stops at some other wharves as well.
I received an email from Manly Fast Ferry today advising that Opal is ONLY accepted on the Manly to Circular Quay service and NOT on the Manly to Darling Harbour via North Sydney service MDH (Jeffrey St)

This confirms http://www.manlyfastferry.com.au/news/7 ... -ferry#top
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

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Transport Info keep insisting that OpalPay is available on both route but:-
I have spoken with Manly Fast Ferry on the phone this morning. They advise that at this point in time OpalPay is only available on the Manly to Circular Quay route. They are working on getting it up on the other route (MDH) but that may still be a little while off.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by parraeel »

I didn't want to start a new thread for this,

I found something in my drawer recently. A lanyard of the "My Train" etc , which of course was the forerunner to Opal.

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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Swift »

OOOOOO! Collectable. :o
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Passenger 57 »

Fleet Lists wrote:Transport Info keep insisting that OpalPay is available on both route but:-
I have spoken with Manly Fast Ferry on the phone this morning. They advise that at this point in time OpalPay is only available on the Manly to Circular Quay route. They are working on getting it up on the other route (MDH) but that may still be a little while off.
I wonder what the obstacle is. How about a lack of interest by TfNSW other than that for announcables. Does anyone know the extent of support for offline authorisation in Australia? It seems to me that accepting contactless cards on the wharf with offline authorisation (assuming online is not fast enough) would be a superior option for customers but it is subject to greater (inadvertent or deliberate) fraud than stored value cards.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

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From what I gather from our phone conversation, the delay is with Manly Fast Ferries
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Passenger 57 »

Do they have any networking on the relevant wharfs?
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by moa999 »

Believe they were mostly using handheld (IE 3g/4g devices)
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Passenger 57 »

Thanks. Do they have separate readers for Opal Pay vs. their own Smart Card? Not that either of those need networking if they have storage capacity.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

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The latest
This problem will be resolved shortly when we have additional Opal Pay ticket machines on all vessels.
Which makes it sound as though they have separate OpaLPay readers to those used for their own tickets,
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boronia »

Passenger 57 wrote:Thanks. Do they have separate readers for Opal Pay vs. their own Smart Card? Not that either of those need networking if they have storage capacity.
They have fixed readers at the gates, similar to Opal style, which I presume are for their own cards. For Opal Pay they have a small tablet sized hand-held reader.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Passenger 57 »

boronia wrote: They have fixed readers at the gates, similar to Opal style, which I presume are for their own cards. For Opal Pay they have a small tablet sized hand-held reader.
Possibly, Albert so perhaps contactless payments will also be available after a respectable period.
Fleet Lists wrote:The latest
This problem will be resolved shortly when we have additional Opal Pay ticket machines on all vessels.
Which makes it sound as though they have separate OpaLPay readers to those used for their own tickets,
Presumably, we are talking about handheld readers to check the cards if that statement is accurate. But there should hardly be a problem acquiring a smart phone or Alberts.

Which reminds me, do the RPOs do anything with contactless payment cards? They will need to scan these (and harvest card information) as part of the full blown implementation of contactless. I doubt there is much fare evasion on the Manly Ferry other than say barrier jumping so perhaps that's all the RPOs monitor when they visit the wharf.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by matthewg »

Passenger 57 wrote: Which reminds me, do the RPOs do anything with contactless payment cards? They will need to scan these (and harvest card information) as part of the full blown implementation of contactless.
In London, whose system we appear to be copying, the RPOs scan the card you offer. They can't tell on the spot if you have tapped on or not, however, the card recorded and later when reconciling the day's transactions, if no appropriate tap on is found, they deduct a 'penalty fare' from the card. The PRO's inform you at the time if you haven't tapped on with the card you present to them, you can be charged a penalty fare.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by gascoyne »

I'd guess that about 70% of passengers on rail substitute buses during trackwork are riding without swiping their opals at the stations at each end. Has anyone thought of temporarily reconfiguring the Opal machines on those buses to charge train fares?
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by mandonov »

Except it's not guaranteed that the replacement bus will even have readers.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boronia »

gascoyne wrote:I'd guess that about 70% of passengers on rail substitute buses during trackwork are riding without swiping their opals at the stations at each end. Has anyone thought of temporarily reconfiguring the Opal machines on those buses to charge train fares?
Some bus stops are nowhere near the actual stations, so it is a bit onerous to expect pax to use them. The stops could have portable machines which mimic the station location.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by simonl »

Just make it free to ride replacement buses. The lost fare revenue really isn't worth the agro of collecting it.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Swift »

simonl wrote:Just make it free to ride replacement buses. The lost fare revenue really isn't worth the agro of collecting it.
Good luck selling that to the LNP ideologues.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Passenger 57 »

gascoyne wrote:Has anyone thought of temporarily reconfiguring the Opal machines on those buses to charge train fares?
As you probably know the rail replacement services in the Newcastle CBD do just that as well as selling rail singles. As to whether its easy to switch Opal between bus and rail modes someone may know whether the buses in use for rail replacement in Newcastle are dedicated to the route or consult a driver about whether Opal can be easily switched between bus and rail modes.
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