Commuters in Wellington and Auckland could soon be paying for bus and train travel using a single smartcard that they can top up over the internet.
Stagecoach New Zealand has selected Australian electronic ticketing company ERG as the preferred supplier of a contactless smartcard ticketing system - a deal that ERG expects to be worth about $5 million.
Stagecoach will fit out all its 1000 buses in Wellington and Auckland with ERG's TP5000 smartcard readers, capable of deducting fares from smartcards when waved three to six inches in front of them.
The smartcard system is expected to debut during the second half of the year and should be available on all buses by the middle of 2006.
Talks are now under way between ERG and rail operator Toll NZ. If Toll NZ settles on the same smartcard payment technology, passengers could be offered "integrated ticketing" options, allowing them to pay for a journey involving both bus and train travel with a single smartcard-based electronic payment.
Toll NZ spokeswoman Sue Foley says the company is aware of Stagecoach's smartcard initiative but says it is "very early days". ERG's Perth-based general manager of corporate affairs, Mark Giles, says ERG will supply 360 smartcard terminals for use in Wellington and 680 terminals for Stagecoach in Auckland – along with the smartcards themselves that cost about a dollar each to produce.
Stagecoach inspectors will be issued with handheld computers so they can check if passengers using smartcards have paid the correct fare.
Passengers will be able to top up their smartcards at regular ticket outlets or on the buses themselves.
Stagecoach New Zealand managing director Bill Rae says that subject to contract negotiations, passengers will be able to top up their smartcards over the internet using a credit card – a feature that will cost Stagecoach a bit more money.
The "credit" would then be transferred to their smartcard the next time they passed it in front of a payment terminal on one of Stagecoach's buses.
Rae says the electronic ticketing system will enable passengers to board faster. All existing methods of ticket payment will remain available, he says.
Some contactless smartcard payment systems are capable of automatically deducting fares by scanning smartcards as passengers step on and off buses, but Miles says not everyone is comfortable with this approach. "Most patrons want to have the feeling of presenting their card to a reader."
Perth-based ERG is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and employs 900 staff worldwide. It posted a profit of $A15.9 million on sales of $A116.5 million for the six months to December. It has also implemented electronic ticketing systems for the cities of Sydney and Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong's case, ERG supplied eight million smartcards which are compliant with the EMV banking standard, meaning they can be used as a generic stored-value card to purchase low-value items from stores such as 7-11, Starbucks and McDonald's – as well as bus and train tickets.
The Hong Kong ticketing system cost more than $100 million and handles 7.5 million transactions each day
By Tom Pullar-Strecker
The Age Newspaper
