Transport for NSW has introduced the Opal card, a new electronic ticketing system that will transform the way the public will move around on public transport.

The Opal card will launch with a customer trial from 7 December on the Neutral Bay ferry route. It will then be rolled out across greater Sydney for all Sydney Ferries, train, bus and light rail customers through to 2015.

Public transport customers using the Opal card will ‘tap on’ at the start of their trip on each mode and ‘tap off’ at the end; with the Opal card working much like an e-tag.

It will make public transport more convenient and see the end of ticket queues.

The Opal card is expected to be available for all Sydney Ferries’ customers, at more than 40 wharves from Parramatta to Manly, by the end of next year, with the roll out to trains starting on the City Circle in the second half of 2013.

Three key incentives will encourage uptake of the Opal card and greater public transport use. These are available for Opal card customers as the electronic ticketing system is progressively rolled out across ferries, trains, buses and light rail.

The incentives include:

• A weekly reward providing free travel after eight paid journeys in a week - for example a customer using their Opal card paying for two journeys a day to and from work from Monday to Thursday will be eligible for unlimited free travel on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays;
• A $2.50 daily cap on Sundays for Opal card customers - travel all you want and it will cost no more than $2.50 per-person;
• A daily travel cap of $15 from Monday to Saturday - helping tourists and one-off users travel affordably using an Opal card.

Ongoing fares for the Opal card will be detailed next year following the ferry trial.

There is no change to paper tickets or other fare products at this time.

Come 2015, 42 ferry wharves, more than 300 train stations and more than 5,000 buses and light rail will have Opal equipment operating in Sydney, the Hunter, Central Coast, the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and the Blue Mountains.