Aussie commuters could soon catch the bus using a credit card
Forget the Opal Card, soon all you'll need for your morning commute could be a credit card.
At an event on the future of transport in Sydney Monday, the New South Wales Minister for Transport Andrew Constance announced the state will conduct a contactless payments trial on public transport in 2017. Passengers could tap on and off buses, ferries, light rail or trains using only a credit card or debit card.
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The Opal Card system, which launched in 2012 and phased out paper tickets, allows travellers to use the smart card across the state's public transport options.
A spokesperson for the minster told Mashable Australia the trial will use existing Opal Card readers and is likely to take place initially in a limited trial on select routes in 2017. The potential cost of the trial and timetable of any wider rollout is unknown at this stage.
"We can start thinking and preparing for this next innovative step because we have delivered the technology infrastructure to make it possible and customers have embraced Opal and the convenience it offers," the minister said in a statement.
"Contactless payment with credit and debit cards would offer customers another easy to use and convenient option for travelling," he added. "The easier we can make it to hop on a train, ferry, bus or light rail, the more people we will get out of their cars congesting our roads."
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Before the trial gets started, Constance said work needs to be done with partners in the finance and contactless payments sector to ensure the system runs smoothly for commuters. Presumably, security measures will also have to be considered to ensure commuters' credit cards aren't skimmed as they head home.
If credit card payments on public transport do become the norm in New South Wales, travelling around the state anonymously is set to become a whole lot harder.
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Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.
