19 Aug 2015
IPART has been asked to review and determine maximum fares for public transport to apply from July 2016.The review affects all users of rail, bus, ferry and light rail services on which the Opal card can be used. This is the first time we have reviewed all modes of transport together. This covers most services in Sydney, Newcastle, the Central Coast, Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and the Hunter regions.
IPART Chairman Dr Peter Boxall said the review is considering a range of options for improving the Opal fare structure, with a particular focus on whether fares should be more integrated across the different modes (rail, bus, ferry and light rail).
In July we released an Issues Paper “Finding the best fare structure for Opal.” We sought stakeholder comment and conducted an online survey which asked for community views about Opal card fares and whether they should be distance based, and whether the same fares should be applied across buses, trains and ferries. We received over 1,800 survey responses. The survey and submissions have now closed.
Further community views will be sought after the release of our fares Methodology Paper on 8 September.
Proposed fares will then be released for public comment in December before the final determination on maximum fares is delivered to the NSW Government in March 2016. Any new fares would come into effect on 1 July 2016.
Media Contact - Julie Sheather - 02 9290 8403 or 0409 514 643