Comments on: Integrated Ticketing fiasco

By: Libertyscott

Libertyscott — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:49:11 +0000

Is Thalys talking about an ITSO based smartcard, beyond Oyster and Octopus (which have insufficient capacity to carry multiple types of tickets)? Oyster is yesterday’s technology, it would be good for Auckland to move beyond that, because the more functionality and flexibility, the better.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:25:13 +0000

Yeah they happen occasionally… all good.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:38:58 +0000

Weird, wasn’t expecting that.

Apparently the above is called an automatic pingback. I linked to this blog post from my own blog and somehow a copy of it showed up here? Was that supposed to happen?

By: Transport integration (or lach thereof) - Delivering Without Wheels

Transport integration (or lach thereof) - Delivering Without Wheels — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:49:16 +0000

[...] Fortunately the Monthly Discovery pass I’ll have for November will mean it will be easier for me to transfer than it is for most people. There is no such thing as an integrated “A” zone pass for the Auckland City area, for example. The otherwise excellent Northern Pass is regionally limited to North Shore trips, with a slight rail extension. A shame really, as the Northern Pass model (based, I believe, on Melbourne’s excellent Metlink fare structure, if not their tickets) would have made a really good interim integrated ticket for Auckland, while we wait for the smartcard system (which is another story). [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:55:51 +0000

For an interim solution all we need to do is extend the Northern Pass to cover the whole city.

(The Northern Pass divides the North Shore into two zones, and offers two-hour, daily, and weekly tickets. It seems to be loosely based on Melborune’s Metcard fare system, albeit on paper).

By: sydneyhasatunnel

sydneyhasatunnel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:28:04 +0000

Jon’s post was excellent wasn’t it.

By: admin

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:34:10 +0000

Latest news is that the changes to the PTMA aren’t happening any time soon. Perhaps the bus lockout made the government think twice about having Infratil determine their transport policies?

By: Nick R

Nick R — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:29:56 +0000

So where does that now stand with the modified PTMA reforms? Is that still possible even, or do operators of commercial routes still get to do whatever the hell the feel like without anything making them play along?

By: admin

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:18:57 +0000

Well before integrated ticketing turned into a debacle with the cancellation of the regional petrol tax in March this year I think that was the plan. ARTA’s timelines for integrated ticketing pointed towards a simple system being introduced by the end of this year, with the smart-card system to follow later on.

By: Nick R

Nick R — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:02:03 +0000

They could, and should, bring in a paper time-based integrated ticket as the first phase. That would make some immediate improvements and get people (and ARTA/the providers) used to the new fare style before the electronic cards are introduced, rather than changing both the fare structure and the payment method in one go. The Australian experience suggests that switching to RFiD cards is problematic enough, without a fundamental change in the way fares work at the same time.

I can’t see any reason why they could not extend the northern pass to all operators, as all operators can print a simple ticket and people are supposed to hang on to their receipt for the duration of the journey anyway. People could still use the individual operators stored value cards in the meantime also.