Article by jekky
History
Magnetic tickets were first used in Sydney on the Eastern Suburbs Railway line, from 1979. Integrated bus-rail tickets were also available for this line. An automated multi-ride ticket system called MetroTen, based on optical mark recognition rather than magnetic stripe technology, was used on Sydney’s government buses from 1987 until 1992. In general, however, Sydney commuters used paper tickets specific to the mode of transport on which they were purchased until the early 1990s.
Automated Fare Collection System tickets were introduced on ferry services provided by State Transit between 1988 and 1989, replacing a system of token coins and turnstiles. State Transit installed ticket vending machines and ticket barriers at Circular Quay and Manly, the main wharves in its network. The operation of the ferries ticketing system was the focus of a corruption inquiry in 1999.
On 31 August 1992, State Transit introduced automated fare collection to its Sydney and Newcastle bus networks as the State Transit Automated Ticketing System, or STATS. STATS replaced a limited multi-ride ticketing system called MetroTen, which was easily and frequently defrauded by passengers. Of the “el cheapo Metroten ticketing system that the former Labor Government installed”, then transport minister Bruce Baird told Parliament that “Many people know that rorting has gone on” and “The system is outdated and has outlived its usefulness.”
The change was heralded by the installation of two green ticket validators in each of State Transit’s 1600 buses.
Tackling fare evasion was also at the heart of automated ticketing on the rail network. Baird told Parliament that under the Wran and Unsworth governments, “between 10 and 20 per cent” were checked and that this had risen to “between 50 per cent and 60 per cent” since the Greiner government took office. “With automatic fare collection,” Baird told Parliament, “85 per cent of all tickets will be checked regularly. It is estimated that somewhere in the range of million to million each year will be collected by way of revenue that should have been paid for travel on State Rail.”
CityRail’s adoption of automated ticketing was more fraught, occurring late and over budget. Officials blamed the size of the rail system. While the State Transit equipped two stopsircular Quay and Manlyith ticket vending machines, CityRail was required to outfit almost 300 stations with them. The government was forced to allay fears that automated ticketing would mean that more stations would have staffing withdrawn once vending machines were in place.
Automatic ticketing, including vending machines and ticket barriers, was introduced to the CityRail network over 12 months between July 1992 and July 1993, at a cost of some million. Baird estimated that reduced fare evasion would net “in the range of million to million each year”.
Tickets
Multi-modal
TravelPass
DayTripper
Pensioner Excursion
Blue Mountains ExplorerLink
TramLink
BusPlus
Train
A CityRail adult single train ticket.
Single
Return
Off Peak Return
7 Day RailPass
14 Day RailPass
FlexiPass
Bus
A Sydney Buses multi-ride ticket.
TravelTen (Sydney)
2 Zone TravelPass
BusTripper
TimeTen (Newcastle)
Prepaid single tickets for use on PrePay Only services
Single bus tickets purchased on board the bus are printed on thermal paper and do not carry a magnetic stripe.
Ferry
Single
FerryTen
ZooPass
AquariumPass
New Tickets
From April 2010, the current line of tickets is to be replaced by a simpler fare structure called MyZone. There will be fewer fare bands on all modes of public transport. On trains, five fare bands will replace 20, on buses three fare bands will replace five and on ferries two fare bands will replace five. There will also be three new MyMulti tickets that give you unlimited travel on all Sydney Ferries and public and private bus services, as well as travel within particular CityRail zones.
MyMulti
MyMulti tickets are available in either weekly, quarterly or yearly unlimited travel periods:
MyMulti 1 – For journeys up to 10km on train from the Sydney CBD and unlimited bus and ferry travel
MyMulti 2 – For journeys up to 35km on train from the Sydney CBD and unlimited bus and ferry travel
MyMulti 3 – Unlimited train, bus and ferry travel across greater metropolitan Sydney
MyMulti Day Pass – Unlimited train, bus and ferry travel for a day
MyTrain
MyTrain 1 – For journeys 0-10km on train
MyTrain 2 – For journeys 10-20km on train
MyTrain 3 – For journeys 20-35km on train
MyTrain 4 – For journeys 35-65km on train
MyTrain 5 – For journeys 65 km or greater
MyBus
Available in either MyBus single or MyBus TravelTen. The new ticketing system will integrate all government and private run buses’ ticketing systems for the first time.
MyBus 1 – For 1 – 2 sections
MyBus 2 – For 3 – 5 sections
MyBus 3 – For 6 or more sections
MyFerry
MyFerry 1 – For a journey up to 9 km by ferry
MyFerry 2 – For unlimited ferry travel
Other
Family Funday Sunday tickets
Newcastle time based fares and Newcastle TravelPass
Pensioner Excursion Ticket
7 Day RailPasses and 14 Day RailPasses
Bondi Beach and Moore Park link tickets
SydneyPass, Zoo Pass and Blue Mountains ExplorerLink tickets
See also
Tcard, which was to replace the Automated Fare Collection System from 2007 but has since been cancelled.
Manual fare collection, the alternative to Automated Fare Collection
MultiRider
Metcard, a magnetic stripe based integrated ticketing system for Melbourne, Australia, based on similar hardware to Sydney’s AFC
myki, the replacement for Metcard in Melbourne
SmartRider
Translink go card
Sustainable transport
References
STA “Wheels and Keels”
New South Wales Parliament: Question Without Notice 22 April 1993
New South Wales Parliament: Question Without Notice 21 October 1992
New South Wales Parliament: Joint Estimates Committee, Transport, 21 October 1992
Independent Commission Against Corruption: Dishonest creation and use of ‘live’ tickets by former staff of Sydney Ferries at Manly Wharf from 1994 to 1997
Powerhouse Museum: New South Wales railway tickets
External links
Automated fare collection systems (AFCS) in Russian Federation
v d e
Public transport operators in Sydney
Government
Automated Fare Collection System Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal New South Wales Ministry of Transport Sydney Metro Authority Tcard Transport InfoLine Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation
Rail/Light Rail
Airport Link CityRail Metro Transport Sydney Veolia
Ferry
Church Point Ferry Cronulla and National Park Ferry Cruises Hawkesbury River Ferries Matilda Cruises Palm Beach Ferry Roads and Traffic Authority Sydney Ferries
Bus
Busabout Busways Caringbah Bus ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Forest Coach Hopkinson’s Interline Metro-link Punchbowl Buses TransdevTSL Shorelink State Transit Authority of New South Wales Veolia
Taxi
Taxis in New South Wales Cabcharge
Categories: 1988 establishments | Transport in Sydney | Fare collection systemsHidden categories: Articles lacking in-text citations from April 2009 | All articles lacking in-text citations | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from February 2007
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