Opal's no shining gem - yet
Just one passenger - and the Transport Minister's delegation - used Sydney's long-awaited electronic ticketing system, the Opal card, on this morning's trial run on the Neutral Bay ferry.
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"Good morning!" gushed the man in the Opal-branded polo shirt and cap as another passenger hurried past, avoiding eye contact. "Don't forget to tap on and off with the Opal card," he said to nobody in particular.
The ferry-riders at Neutral Bay wharf seemed unaware they were heralding a new era of transport history – Sydney's long-awaited "electronic ticketing system" that will work across ferries, buses and trains.
The Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, says more than 200 people have signed up with Opal cards but almost none of those registered arrived for the first day of the trial.
Card carrying member ... Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian on the Neutral Bay ferry. Photo: Peter Rae
By 7.30am desperation tinged the Opal man's voice. "I'm excited!" he said as another iPod-wearing passenger grunted past.
At 7.58am he could smile finally. An investment banker named Simon Kidston strode purposefully to the silver terminal and tapped his card on the screen. It worked.
Mr Kidston was the first and only non-government passenger we saw using an Opal card on the first morning of the trial. He knows the technology well. He has worked in London where "smartcards" have long been used for all forms of public transport.
On tap ... the Opal card, which went into service on Friday. Photo: Peter Rae
"It was long overdue," Mr Kidston said.
Ms Berejiklian and her staff caught the same ferry as Mr Kidston. The minister gave a quick press conference at Circular Quay.
"Today is a really important day for public transport," she said, brandishing her Opal. "Passengers who used it were really pleased with it."
Her staff nodded enthusiastically. "I'm thrilled about how it's gone this morning and I'm hoping that more people will sign on."
The Opal card is being trialled on the Neutral Bay ferry circuit, and the government says it will be available for all Sydney Ferries' customers by the end of next year. Trains will join the trial from the middle of next year and buses in 2014. Light rail will join some time in 2015. The new system will cost $1.2 billion, which includes installation plus about 15 years of operating costs, Ms Berejiklian said.
Passengers can order Opal cards for free and either load them with money or use them as an automatic debit card, like an e-tag. Trips on the Opal card will cost the same as they do on current tickets, Ms Berejiklian said.
But she will wait until next year to confirm the new fee structure and what incentives or penalties she will use to encourage people to sign up for Opal cards.
The "roll out", Ms Berejiklian reminded us, would be long and complicated, and could not be accomplished by her Labor predecessors.
Embarrassingly for Labor, NSW taxpayers continue to suffer from the previous government's aborted "T-Card" ticketing system. The state is still paying more than $300,000 a month in interest on debts of more than $100 million for a card that never existed.
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