Opal Discussion and Observations

[Merc1107]

That's a good system. Now more than ever it is necessary, given that paper-based tickets seem a thing of the past in many jurisdiction now.

[boxythingy]

Revenue protection is the responsibility of TfNSW, not the operators, hence RPOs all have the same uniforms. Appreciate that it is a government department and thinking outside the box is frowned upon, but surely with no rail fares to check, they should be redeployed to buses, ferries and trams rather than just standing at ticket barriers doing nothing. Have seen this at a few stations now, yesterday at Wollongong there was a team there in the morning and when I left four hours later, they were still there. Or alternatively just give them the week off.

Don't they actually belong to a part that is directly administered under Sydney Trains and/or NSW TrainLink, rather than at the TfNSW level?

[Linto63]

The RPOs on buses, ferries and trains are all in the same uniform, so presumably a unit of TfNSW.

[Campbelltown busboy]

The RPOs should be checking Opal cards at bus stops pre boarding catching bus passengers out at the stop might stop fare evasion on buses

[boronia]

They could only catch passengers who don't have cards.

[ScaniaGrenda]

Well a couple of weeks ago on one my numerous visits to Central I came back from somewhere (Wynyard to Central?) and went under the rats run of a maze that lead me to one of the gated opal areas (Not where the main concourse is, somewhere else) and I tapped off at an opal barrier and there was TO's waiting on the other side and I got stopped and asked if they could check my opal card after I passed through the gate.

Now I suspected I was checked because perhaps there's people that don't actually tap on at their starting station and only tap off at their end station to throw off the guards that they were tapped on so they don't get stopped but this seems highly unlikely for someone to go to the trouble of doing.

Meanwhile @ Newcastle Interchange I've never seen TO's here, always the police and they only stop commuters who have gone past the opal barrier without tapping off, I've not seen anyone pulled aside for an "opal card check" after they've tapped off at the barrier here.

[Campbelltown busboy]

They could only catch passengers who don't have cards.

It's called funds checking people can get a warning off a RPO for not having the correct funds for a trip

[boxythingy]

Now I suspected I was checked because perhaps there's people that don't actually tap on at their starting station and only tap off at their end station to throw off the guards that they were tapped on so they don't get stopped but this seems highly unlikely for someone to go to the trouble of doing.

Why would they want to add insult to injury when this would have resulted in a default fare and now possibly a fine, for example when someone intentionally tapped on at unidirectional wide gate that was wide opened, not realised that they had to wait for the binging red light to bong back to orange during this industrial action period?

[boronia]

Are the gates "directional"? Like could you not tap on at an exit gate?

[Jurassic_Joke]

Opal+ update

As of today, the price of the “unlimited” travel pass subscription has been reduced from $50 a week to $47 a week, making it $3 cheaper than PAYG Opal’s weekly cap.

Should’ve been this way from the start to be honest, who’s going to take up the Opal+ when it means being guaranteed out of pocket $50, when with PAYG Opal you only pay $50 if that’s what you actually use?

[alleve]

Are the gates "directional"? Like could you not tap on at an exit gate?

Gates are directional in the sense that they're set to only allow tap ons from one direction. If you approach a gate from the wrong direction, the screen displays the red X instead of the green arrow, and it won't let you tap on/off. But the direction of the gates can be changed and are pretty much always changed between the peaks, and the wide gates open in both directions at once (at least that's the case at Kogarah, Hurstville, etc. Not sure if it's the same at big stations where there are multiple wide gates).

[Glen]

Are the gates "directional"? Like could you not tap on at an exit gate?

Gates are directional in the sense that they're set to only allow tap ons from one direction. If you approach a gate from the wrong direction, the screen displays the red X instead of the green arrow, and it won't let you tap on/off. But the direction of the gates can be changed and are pretty much always changed between the peaks, and the wide gates open in both directions at once (at least that's the case at Kogarah, Hurstville, etc. Not sure if it's the same at big stations where there are multiple wide gates).

Am I right in thinking that the wide gates constantly alternate in their 'direction'?

[alleve]

Gates are directional in the sense that they're set to only allow tap ons from one direction. If you approach a gate from the wrong direction, the screen displays the red X instead of the green arrow, and it won't let you tap on/off. But the direction of the gates can be changed and are pretty much always changed between the peaks, and the wide gates open in both directions at once (at least that's the case at Kogarah, Hurstville, etc. Not sure if it's the same at big stations where there are multiple wide gates).

Am I right in thinking that the wide gates constantly alternate in their 'direction'?

I'm not sure, although now that you mention it it would make sense given that the wide gates constantly flash on and off all the time. I've never really put that much thought into it before

[Gusbus]

The RPOs on buses, ferries and trains are all in the same uniform, so presumably a unit of TfNSW.

They are employees of Sydney Trains. The RPO or Transport Officer structure is wholly based within Sydney Trains, with their managers also being Sydney Trains employees. Hence their perceived preference toward checking tickets at trains or station and at bus interchanges adjoined to stations. They are also used as an extra customer service staffing recourse by Sydney Trains at stations during major events or disruptions.

[Swift]

.

Should’ve been this way from the start to be honest, who’s going to take up the Opal+ when it means being guaranteed out of pocket $50, when with PAYG Opal you only pay $50 if that’s what you actually use?

That's crazy. Only in New South Fails.

[Linto63]

Am I right in thinking that the wide gates constantly alternate in their 'direction'?

Yes, but the gates are now locked in the open position, so they no longer move.

[matthewg]

Am I right in thinking that the wide gates constantly alternate in their 'direction'?

They are now back to being closed and alternating in direction. It appears the gate control systems can either be inward or outward, not both, so the wide gates which need to be both, alternate sides about 1 a second. You can only 'tap' when the light on the pad is orange. I've observed many people tapping multiple times on till the pad activates.

I take a bicycle on the train relatively frequently (on weekends, I'm not one of those people who takes a bike onto a crowded peak trains), so have to use the wide gates.

[Passenger 57]

Should’ve been this way from the start to be honest, who’s going to take up the Opal+ when it means being guaranteed out of pocket $50, when with PAYG Opal you only pay $50 if that’s what you actually use?

One reason you might is if you want access to the perks and add-ons which are only available with active subscriptions. I see that other pricing has been reduced too. The PAYG daily caps are now inline with Opal rather than $20 on weekdays and $10 on weekends. Peak fares have been reduced but the off-peak discounts has been reduced from ~40% to ~30% to make up for that (40% is a figure that IPART has recommended). To me this indicates that the majority of participants in the trial were only using Opal+ when it saved them money and not interested in the perks and add-ons. I'm encouraged. Somehow the relative pricing of the 2 Anytime subscription has remained unchanged at the price of 2 peak PAYG journeys. The only reason to take that up would be to access to the perks and add-ons. The bundles with larger amounts of journeys still offer the same small level of discount. If one compares the 20% TravelTen pricing in 2014 for fares that didn't expire and were inflation proof one can see just how pathetic those discounts are.

In summary, Opal+ has become more compelling for the multi-mode traveller with the fare reductions and for those hitting the Opal weekly cap. Given that Opal+ removes the fare penalties for multi-modal travel at the expense of single mode travel in most distance bands the way is clear for the Opal weekly cap to be increased once Opal+ is in general availability.

[Linto63]

They are now back to being closed and alternating in direction.

Still open, at least at CBD stations as recently as today.

Given that Opal+ removes the fare penalties for multi-modal travel at the expense of single mode travel in most distance bands the way is clear for the Opal weekly cap to be increased once Opal+ is in general availability.

Politics may dictate otherwise. The $50 cap was a bit of pork barrelling introduced during the last election campaign, and may well be capped again.

[moa999]

Probably needed to recruit more users, given the ridiculous cost of Opal+.

I still think it's a horrible reversion back to the old system of making customers guess what their travel patterns might be over the coming week.

[TheOpalUser]

Opal+ update

As of today, the price of the “unlimited” travel pass subscription has been reduced from $50 a week to $47 a week, making it $3 cheaper than PAYG Opal’s weekly cap.

Should’ve been this way from the start to be honest, who’s going to take up the Opal+ when it means being guaranteed out of pocket $50, when with PAYG Opal you only pay $50 if that’s what you actually use?

Remember you can start your subscription on any day of the week.
If you're visiting Sydney from Melbourne for work, arrive on Wednesday and leave on Tuesday, you might end up spending more then $50 for your week visit (as the cap ends on Sunday night).

[boronia]

On the subject of fare evasion, I see there is a doco on 9-Rush tonight on fare evasion in London.

[Linto63]

Correcting an earlier post, ferry RPOs are Transdev employees much like on the light rail.

[Gusbus]

Correcting an earlier post, ferry RPOs are Transdev employees much like on the light rail.

I should have clarified... The RPO's in uniforms with the blue collars, are the ones that are Sydney Trains employees. The ones in red collars, who you only see on light rail, are employees of Transdev. I don't know about the ferries, but if they wear a green collar, they would be employees of Transdev, but if they had blue collars, they would the Sydney Trains ones. The Sydney Trains ones (blue collars) are multi-modal, but the Transdev ones (red collar for light rail and maybe a green collar? for the ferries) are not multi-modal and stuck on their respective modes.

[Linto63]

Green collars for ferry RPOs