Opal Discussion and Observations

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

Post by mubd »

Do they knock on your door or just leave the thing at the letterbox?
Eastgardens to Kingsford is a 1-2 section fare.
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abesty
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by abesty »

boxythingy wrote: Anyway mine came just then:
Did you have to sign for it using the driver's Van key because he didn't have the special touch pen?
mubd wrote:Do they knock on your door or just leave the thing at the letterbox?
As you have to sign for it, they wouldn't leave it in the letterbox if nobody was home to receive it.
Last edited by abesty on Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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boxythingy
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boxythingy »

mubd wrote:Do they knock on your door or just leave the thing at the letterbox?
Knock. I'm in Campbelltown, assuming it's the same person and they left straight away around 3:00pm, they should get back into the inner city area by 4:00pm
abesty wrote: Did you have to sign for it using the driver's Van key because he didn't have the special touch pen?
I think we got the same courier. :lol:
mubd
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by mubd »

I can imagine the Opal people thought that most deliveries were going to be made within a few kms of the city, but it may have turned out that everyone who approached the Opal people caught the ferry for the express purpose of getting the card, resulting in their courier fees going sky high, once it's realised that most people live nowhere near the ferries...
Eastgardens to Kingsford is a 1-2 section fare.
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boxythingy
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boxythingy »

mubd wrote:I can imagine the Opal people thought that most deliveries were going to be made within a few kms of the city, but it may have turned out that everyone who approached the Opal people caught the ferry for the express purpose of getting the card, resulting in their courier fees going sky high, once it's realised that most people live nowhere near the ferries...
I know someone who lives at Kirribilli, so I could theoretically use my card although that would mean paying for MyZone+Opal fares. If they were smarter, perhaps the Opal staff could have actually approached people as stated here:
http://opal.com.au/ wrote:Opal card team members will be directly approaching customers on the ferry to ask them if they’d like to participate
and requested some ID prior to filling in the forms. I wouldn't be too happy if they forced me to give up my card though :|
iDionz
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by iDionz »

I know there's a normal opal card and pensioner opal card, if I'm still on dsp/pension when its rolled out on buses/trains etc and I get a job and lose my dsp/pension etc, do I have to get a new card
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Fleet Lists
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Fleet Lists »

YES. You would no longer be entitled to the Opal card issued to pensioners.

Similarly if someone has a full Opal card and becomes a pensioner they would have to change.
Living in the Shire.
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by Fleet Lists »

I wouldn't be too happy if they forced me to give up my card though :|
What card would you have to give up???
Living in the Shire.
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boxythingy
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boxythingy »

Fleet Lists wrote:
I wouldn't be too happy if they forced me to give up my card though :|
What card would you have to give up???
The terms and conditions state that the card remains property of TfNSW. Although, that's what they said for the Tcard too.
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boxythingy
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boxythingy »

Detailed look at the information pack
moa999
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by moa999 »

Thanks boxything.

I had to mute Jamie Oliver in the background.

Edit... Gordon Ramsay - should have picked it by the more frequent swear words.
Last edited by moa999 on Thu Dec 06, 2012 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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boxythingy
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boxythingy »

moa999 wrote:Thanks boxything.

I had to mute Jamie Oliver in the background.
Gordon Ramsay* Sorry forgot to mute it :oops: Although, if the Youtube copyright audio detection system works it might mute it for me anyway.

Has everyone who signed up received their pack by now, since it's 4:50pm now?
mubd
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by mubd »

The courier didn't end up coming for me.
Eastgardens to Kingsford is a 1-2 section fare.
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boxythingy
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boxythingy »

mubd wrote:The courier didn't end up coming for me.
Call the hotline, it works now.
745-Castle Hill
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by 745-Castle Hill »

Same, no OPAL card for me.
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boxythingy
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boxythingy »

I hear an American accent:
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mrmoopt
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by mrmoopt »

Cubic are an American bunch right? They probably had someone in their head office do the v/o's?
Nuggets.
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boxythingy
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by boxythingy »

abesty wrote:With Opal on the way in, here is a lookback at the flyer for the introduction of the "futuristic" magnetic ticker barriers:
Not so distant in the past...

Edit: This wasn't on youtube and I happened to find this. It dates back to 2008.
moa999
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by moa999 »

Probably the best looking card amongst my small collection...
A collection of cards
A collection of cards
IMG-20121206-00427.jpg (64.79 KiB) Viewed 3609 times
Bonus points for ID'ing the bottom one.
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mrmoopt
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by mrmoopt »

Yanchengtong for Guanghou in PRC. Being replaced by Lingnang Tong
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moa999
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by moa999 »

Very good cal_t.

Impressive - a combined card for Hong Kong,Macau, Shenzehn, Guandong and Guangzhou supporting multiple currencies
http://www.thenanfang.com/blog/one-smar ... avel-card/
stupid_girl
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by stupid_girl »

simonl wrote:^ Why don't we just make fares free then, if it doesn't matter how much farebox recovery we get.
stupid_girl wrote:How much has the government recovered the cost of road construction from road users?
I don't know but this change meant that the recovery was redistributed away from those living more sustainable lifestyles by living closer to where they work.

I'm still waiting for a reasonable comment on what the advantage of MyZone was besides getting privates (+Newcastle Buses) into the Travelpass/MyMulti system?
If the crowding can be managed properly, I'm definitely not against low fare PT (not completely free of charge in order to avoid people making unnecessary trips).
Guangzhou demonstrated the problem with completely free PT during the Asian games. Many people took the metro for no purpose and the crowding was not manageable.
On the other hand, the low fare Beijing Metro (flat fare RMB 2) resulted in increasing PT usage with manageable level of crowding.

Also, it is a lot more desirable if PT costs are recovered by introducing congestion tax and extra road toll for motorists.
mubd
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by mubd »

With regards to the appearance of the system, I'm glad we didn't end up with an abortion of a system like the T-card. All of the hardware was ugly and very, very pedestrian in design. Thank goodness the new government has pushed the developers to create a more aesthetically pleasing system. The ring shaped gem is a great piece of graphic design for showing people where to touch their cards, and the Opal bollards look great as well.
Eastgardens to Kingsford is a 1-2 section fare.
iDionz
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by iDionz »

TCards were alright, and they were tested out on buses for like 2 year (by school students) os and funny thing is I lost mine like 3 times and the last time I did I jut used my sisters as she left school! Then they canned it and the machines were covered up and then removed. Note: some Busways CB60's had the machines too :)
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abesty
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Re: Introducing OPAL Card

Post by abesty »

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-07/s ... ection=nsw
Sydney begins ticketing trial after 16-year wait

Sixteen years after it was first promised for Sydney, electronic ticketing on public transport has finally become a reality.

The trial of the Opal Card begins today on the Neutral Bay to Circular Quay ferry service.

Once it is fully operational in 2015, commuters will be able to transfer easily between rail, bus, light rail and ferry services.

The Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian says 200 people will take part in the trial.

"We want to make sure we get it right which is why we're starting on this route," she said.

"The obviously next year we'll also be doing it on all the ferry routes and then we'll also start it on trains next year.

"But we need to make sure we iron out any glitches in the system. We need to make sure we've got it right in terms of customer information."

Trent Zimmerman from the Tourism and Transport Forum says the card will encourage greater use of public transport and make the system simpler to use for visitors.

"When you come to a city for the first time, navigating a new public transport system is always difficult," he said.

"The fact that you will be able to have one card that gets you onto every form of public transport (and) automatically deducts the fares will make it so much simpler for people visiting Sydney for the first time."
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