More than 8.7 million customers have travelled on the country’s busiest bus route, in just 12 months, and from today they can pay with their card or device of choice.
The Bondi Link service is celebrating its first birthday, on the same day contactless technology was switched on across the entire Opal network.
Minister for Transport Andrew Constance said the achievement marks a significant milestone in this Australian first transport innovation.
“The Bondi Link service has carried more customers than the state’s population in its first year of operation, an average of 22,000 a day.
“The great news is those customers now have the ease of tapping on with a whole range of options, including debit and credit cards,” Mr Constance said.
Member for Vaucluse Gabrielle Upton said the turn up and go bus model proved a big hit.
“My community wanted a better bus service and our Government has delivered it through Bondi Link, which has made more than 124,000 trips in 12 months,” Ms Upton said.
State Transit CEO Steffen Faurby said he was proud the government-owned bus operator could deliver improved services for customers in the eastern suburbs.
“Bondi Link has clocked up around 1.3 million in-service kilometres on daily travels from Bondi Beach to Circular Quay. To put that distance into perspective, the fleet has gone around earth’s circumference more than 32 times.”
Buses today joined trains, ferries, light rail and Metro in allowing customers to tap on and off with their credit card, debit card or linked device – like a smartphone.
“This achievement marks the final piece of the contactless payments puzzle,” Mr Constance said.
Customers using this payment method can access all the same fare benefits of an Adult Opal card, including the weekly travel reward and transfer discount.
American Express, Mastercard and Visa are accepted and customers can tap on and off using mobile wallets on smartphones, tablets and wearable devices linked to these cards.
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