Tcard
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This article or section contains information about a planned or expected public transportation infrastructure. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available. |
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 Sydney's Public Transport Ticketing System |
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| Due release: | 2007 |
| Prior System: | Automated Fare Collection System |
| Issuing Authority: | Public Transport Ticketing Corporation |
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Tcard is the name of the contactless smartcard ticketing system to be introduced in 2007 on public transport in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The card will replace the existing Automated Fare Collection System on CityRail, Sydney Buses, Western Sydney Buses, Sydney Ferries and Newcastle Buses & Ferries services. It will also bring private-sector bus, rail and ferry operators into the city's integrated ticketing system.
To use the system, commuters 'recharge' their Tcard with credit at ticket vending machines, ticket agents or online. They then "tag on"— hold the card within five centimetres of a Tcard reader—at the start of their journey and "tag off" at the end. The fare for the trip is calculated and its value deducted from the card.
Prior to 2003, the project was referred to as the "Integrated ticketing system".
[edit] History
Sydney has used a number of automated ticketing systems since the opening of the Eastern Suburbs Railway in 1979. At present, government-run buses, trains and ferries use the Automated Fare Collection System, rolled out between 1988 and 1993.
A replacement system, based on smart card technology, was first announced by the New South Wales Government in 1996. The contract to install and operate Tcard, as the plan became known, was awarded to ERG Transit Systems in 2003. Companies linked to ERG delivered magnetic stripe based ticketing systems in both Sydney and Melbourne in the 1990s. In a bid to smooth the introduction of Tcard, the government established the Public Transport Ticketing Corporation to oversee the project. The corporation commenced operations in July 2006.
In 2005, a limited trial of the technology involving schoolchildren using the School Student Transport Scheme was undertaken, and expanded to cover all private-sector bus services in 2006. Through 2007, a commuter field trial on Sydney Buses services in the city's Inner West will be conducted. A full rollout of the system will take place after the trial, with ERG operating the system for a period of 10 years.
Ridiculing the revised timetable, opposition transport spokesman Barry O'Farrell told Parliament that "The only smart move by the Minister for Transport is putting off implementation of the full operation of the Tcard until after the next State election campaign." [1]
[edit] Technology
Tcard is based on smart card technology. A chip embedded in the Tcard communicates with the card reader through RFID induction technology (at data rates of 106 to 848 kbit/s). These cards require only close proximity to an antenna to complete transaction. They are often used when transactions must be processed quickly or hands-free, such as on mass transit systems, where smart cards can be used without even removing them from a wallet.
Like smart cards with contacts, contactless cards do not have a battery. Instead, they use a built-in inductor to capture some of the incident radio-frequency interrogation signal, rectify it, and use it to power the card's electronics.
Similar systems operate in cities such as Hong Kong and London. A smartcard system called myki is soon to begin rollout in Melbourne, and the SmartRider system has been launched in Perth.
[edit] External links
| Public transport operators in metropolitan New South Wales | |
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| Government |
Automated Fare Collection System | Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal | New South Wales Ministry of Transport | Rail Infrastructure Corporation | Tcard | Transport InfoLine | Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation
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| Rail | Airport Link | CityRail | Metro Transport Sydney | Veolia
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| Ferry | Central Coast Ferries | Church Point Ferry | Cronulla Ferries | Dangar Island Ferries | Matilda Cruises | Newcastle Buses & Ferries | Palm Beach Ferry | Sydney Ferries
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| Bus |
Busabout | BusLink | Busways | Caringbah Bus | ComfortDelGro Cabcharge | Forest Coach | Hopkinson's | Interline | Metro-link | Punchbowl Buses | Shorelink | State Transit Authority of New South Wales | Veolia
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| Taxi | Taxis in New South Wales | Cabcharge
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| Public transport in metropolitan New South Wales | | |
