Passengers travelling on the G:link light rail network on Queensland’s Gold Coast are the first to trial an open loop transportation ticketing system that the Australian state plans to roll out across all forms of public transport in 18 regional centres by 2022.

The implementation is the first major trial for transport authority Translink’s A$371m (US$281m) smart ticketing system and enables passengers to pay their fares by tapping their contactless credit or debit card, mobile phone or smartwatch.

The G:link trial currently supports payments made using Mastercard or American Express. Passengers can continue to use Translink’s existing Go transit card. They will also still be able to purchase paper tickets with cash during the trial.

“Whilst Mastercard and American Express have signed on early to support smart ticketing, we are hoping all leading bank schemes will follow suit to offer smart ticketing in the future,” Translink says.

It unveiled plans to launch the smart ticketing system in June 2019 and tested ticketing gates at Brisbane’s Central Station in October 2019.

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