Monday marks the last step in a big change for the public transport system in NSW.
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As of today, paper tickets will no longer be accepted on the state’s buses, trains and ferries.
The move is designed to shift what the government says is a small number of commuters still using paper tickets instead of an Opal card.
During the Opal rollout, which has taken several years, Transport for NSW officials have always expected there would a portion of commuters who would continue to use paper tickets as long as they were available.
These people would always need a gentle push to move to Opal and that push will save the government the cost of continually running two separate ticketing systems.
Today’s move has been well-publicised in the preceding weeks, however it is likely some people have missed the message and may arrive at a train station or bus stop and realise they can no longer buy the same ticket they have been for years.
For those people there is another option – an Opal single-trip ticket that the government says will be a permanent addition.
It is a card the same size as an Opal card and embedded with a chip that users tap on and off, the same as with Opal.
In another a gentle nudge to get commuters to move to Opal, a journey on a single-trip ticket will cost more than on Opal.
Some will no doubt find moving to the Opal system a bit frightening but, like any new system, there will be an initial period of teething troubles before people adapt.
Despite initial misgivings about Opal, many people who have changed over quickly become converts as they find it more convenient – essentially all it means is that you're buying your ticket before you arrive at the train station or bus stop.
The switch to a smart-card ticketing system has been a long time coming – 17 years in fact.
In 1999 the Labor government announced plans for Tcard – a smart card – saying it would be in operation for the 2000 Olympics.
The government missed that deadline and never actually got a smart card up and running – though then-Transport Minister David Campbell did sign the contract for what would become the Opal card in 2010, a year before Labor would lose power.
A handful of years later, the Opal was rolled out and the gradual process of retiring paper tickets began.