Opal Discussion and Observations
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
Increasing adult fare is politically easier and also leads to higher revenue gain.Campbelltown busboy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 1:29 pm A sitting government of ether side would need to have a strong backbone even think about announcing a gold Opal daily cap rise without worrying about the outcome of the decision could be
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
The fare raise annoys me especially with the also recently announced $60 toll cap. What a lovely way to encourage people onto public transport by raising fares and subsidising Transurban’s monopoly as per usual.
- alleve
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
FWIW I really don't think the fare raise is turning anyone off public transport. It's still far cheaper than other optionsRandomness wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:28 pm The fare raise annoys me especially with the also recently announced $60 toll cap. What a lovely way to encourage people onto public transport by raising fares and subsidising Transurban’s monopoly as per usual.
- boxythingy
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
Well they increased the price by too much because they thought it would help with the social distancing aspect of preventing the spread of a certain disease, but it hasn't I'm now counting the days until my ebike investment breaks even.
- TheOpalUser
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
Looks like Opal cards get to live for 15 years now https://x.com/theopaluser/status/173038 ... 51078?s=46
Posts and comments made here are my own personal opinions, and not on behalf of my employer.
- TheOpalUser
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/do- ... 5eo5u.html
Eighty-six of the 1412 Opal cards issued in December 2012 are still in use today, a Transport for NSW spokesperson told The Sun-Herald.
Posts and comments made here are my own personal opinions, and not on behalf of my employer.
Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
How can you tell the age of your card?
- boxythingy
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
Have they been extending the maximum life of the cards because of a current global chip shortage which is affecting Pasmo and Suica in Japan, for example?
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
When opal cards were first issued in Dec 2012 the opal system was only operating as a very small trial on a couple of bus routes. It wasn’t till 2014 that it was at all Sydney suburban train stations.
I wonder how many of these original opal cards were issued to genuine travellers on those initial routes, versus collectors or transport buffs.
I wonder how many of these original opal cards were issued to genuine travellers on those initial routes, versus collectors or transport buffs.
- boronia
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
Was the expiry date predicated on the anticipated life of the card, the chip, or data stability.?
Perhaps testing is finding these issues performing better than anticipated, and thus reducing the need to replace them?
Perhaps testing is finding these issues performing better than anticipated, and thus reducing the need to replace them?
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
Started on select ferry routes.. and you had to fill in a form and mail it in to get the card.Engineering wrote:When opal cards were first issued in Dec 2012 the opal system was only operating as a very small trial on a couple of bus routes.
While I still have my original card, I've shifted the balance to a new one, due to the extra beeps warning of expiry (since multiple times extended)
Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
Possibly, the original nine years was probably a guesstimate as to how long cards would safely last before problems began to arise. With problems not having occurred, it has been decided to extend their lives rather than replace. Same thing happened in Queensland where Go Cards were scheduled to expire after 10 years, but can now be extended for a further 10 years, although does require a visit to a retailer or ticket office. In Victoria, Myki cards are set to expire after four years, but can be extended for a further two years.boronia wrote: ↑Was the expiry date predicated on the anticipated life of the card, the chip, or data stability.?
- Swift
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
A moot point in Victoria as fare evading is a culture in Melbourne.
- boxythingy
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Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
Neutral Bay Ferry line to be exact, then it was more ferry lines, before being expanded to Trains onto the North Shore line up until Chatswood from Central and Eastern Suburbs line between Bondi Junction and Central from what I remember, then onto the select bus routes.Engineering wrote:
Started on select ferry routes.. and you had to fill in a form and mail it in to get the card.
While I still have my original card, I've shifted the balance to a new one, due to the extra beeps warning of expiry (since multiple times extended)
Re: Opal Discussion and Observations
There are two lifetimes. One is what the manufacturer says the expected life of the flash chip is and what they will guarantee the life will be. Seems Melbourne went for the 'manufacture guaranteed' life and Sydney and Brisbane went for the 'expected' life.
They can determine the average failure rate of the cards by analysing the backend data and calculating age vs rate of failure. As they know the serial numbers of the cards, they can probably break the life tie down to the batch level - some batches may have lower failures than others. So if your card is of the batch that is showing low failure rates, keep extending it when they are presented, if the batch is showing a high failure rate, expire them out.
There is some need to expire old cards or your readers are stuck supporting old format cards forever. Oyster didn't set an expiration so old MiFare classic cards (like our now 20-year-old cards) can STILL be used. Currently issued cards are MiFare desFires. So the Oyster gates have to support multiple formats forever. (My last few visits to London, I switched to using contactless, lately via my phone - my wife still uses her old Oyster card).
Melbourne could have (but probably hasn't) changed the format of the data on a Myki card multiple times - as they only have to support the old cards for 5 years. So 5 years after a file format change they can finally remove the 'old' code.