Apple users travelling on public transport services operated by Transport for NSW in the Australian state of New South Wales can now make contactless payments for their journeys with their iPhone or Apple Watch without needing to unlock their device... More
High school students at Magdalene Catholic College in Sydney, Australia, are to trial RFID transit ticketing tags that come with an operating distance of up to two metres, enabling an on-board reader to detect students automatically as they walk onto a bus... More
Passengers using Transport for NSW public transport services in Australia can now apply to take part in a year-long pilot to test a digital version of the Opal transit card that enables them to pay fares from a digital wallet on their mobile phone or smartwatch... More
Passengers who use their Opal transit card to pay for transport fares in the Australian state of New South Wales are to take part in a pilot of a digital version of the card which is set to go live before the end of this year... More
Public transportation users in Sydney, Australia, are now using their contactless debit card, credit card or linked device to make 1.5m journeys a week, Transport for NSW has revealed... More
Transport for NSW has announced plans to pilot a new digital version of its Opal transit card that will enable cardholders to “pay for all modes of transport — whether it be light rail, a bus, on demand service, taxi or Uber — with a single tap of their phone.”... More
Public transportation users in Sydney, Australia, are now able to use contactless bank cards, NFC phones or wearable devices to pay for travel across the entire Transport for New South Wales network, including bus services... More
Savings for commuters using contactless payments — Commonwealth Bank of Australia — “Commuters using contactless payments will now also receive Opal travel benefits, including: Daily, weekly and Sunday travel caps in line with Opal caps; Weekly travel reward (half price after eight trips); The Opal transfer discount; Off-peak pricing for train travel… The trial is also extending to the Sydney bus network in a staged roll-out over the coming months.”
NSW looks to facial recognition as Opal card alternative — iTnews — “In the transport space we’ll use facial recognition technology to scan customers who’ve ‘opted in’ and linked their Opal account… No more gate barriers – just a smooth journey.”
Sydneysiders can now use Fitbit Pay to quickly and easily tap on & off at transit readers — Fitbit — “Following the contactless payment strategy rolled out by NSW Transport on Sydney’s ferry, light rail and train networks in November, Fitbit users can now use selected Mastercard and Visa debit and credit cards loaded into their Fitbit Pay Wallet to pay for their trip… Fitbit users in Sydney with a Fitbit Ionic, Fitbit Versa and its newest tracker, Fitbit Charge 3, can now leave their Opal cards at home and instead use Fitbit Pay on their Fitbit device to quickly and easily pay for public transport.”
First on-demand operator taps into Opal — iTnews — “Transport for NSW has expanded its OpalPay payment method to allow the first on-demand public transport operators to tap into the Opal card system… The payment method will now expand to on-demand public transport services operated by Transit Systems in Sydney’s Inner West. The on-demand service, which will launch new week, is the latest in a series of on-demand services now operating across Sydney and Newcastle.”
Google Pay on Wear OS officially spreads to three new countries — Android Police — “In addition to using NFC-equipped watches to make regular mobile payments, users in Australia can use their Wear OS devices with the Opal ticketing system to pay for single-trip tickets on select rail and ferry lines… Formerly, Google’s payment service was only supported on Android Wear (now Wear OS) devices in the US and the UK.”
Transport for New South Wales opens up its Opal payments system to privately-operated transport services — Open Gov Asia — “Open APIs allow other companies using their own terminals and equipment to connect to the Opal payments system. This allows them to simplify their operations, reduce operating costs and provide a quick and convenient way for commuters to pay for travel across a range of transportation modes.”
Opal card implanted into Sydney man Meow-Meow could be deactivated by NSW authorities — ABC News — “Transport authorities in New South Wales have threatened to deactivate an Opal card that has been implanted in a Sydney man’s hand… ‘Transport for NSW does not support the tampering or damaging of Opal Cards, which would be a breach of the terms of use,’ they said.”
Sydney man has Opal card implanted into hand to make catching public transport easier — ABC News — “Bio-hacker Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow, his legal name, had the Opal near-field communication (NFC) chip cut down and encased in bio-compatible plastic, measuring 1 millimetre by 6 millimetres. He then had the device implanted just beneath the skin on the side of his left hand. “It gives me an ability that not everyone else has, so if someone stole my wallet I could still get home,” he said.”
Cubic Transportation Systems says it is working with Transport for New South Wales to trial contactless ticketing across Sydney’s public transport network in 2017, allowing “commuters of participating payment schemes to tap their contactless bank card on Opal readers to pay for travel”... More
Australia’s transit authority for New South Wales is seeking partners in the IT industry to develop an Android NFC phone app that Transport for NSW officers could use to interact with the authority’s contactless Opal transit cards... More