Tcard Me Home

The Tcard has been a public debacle for ages, and I just don't get it. If London managed to introduce the Oyster card why can't we? It's all a load of political crap that has stopped it being developed. And maybe the complete incompetency of the company that was supposed to help bring it about.

What really needed to happen was for the people in charge of NSWs public transport systems to come into a room with the premier and the developers and be told to streamline the existing fare structures and then have examples of how to do it.

By all means keep the concession/student/adult ticket prices, but actually divide cities into major zones. Zone 1 for Sydney CBD with a 3 or 5km radius, then Zone 2 from there and so on and so forth. That's what London did and people complain because it costs 4 pound to go from one station to the next in Zone 1 if you buy a ticket. What they don't tell you is that if you get an Oyster card (which you can pretty much buy anywhere) the price goes down to about 1 pound. Bargain! And you don't even have to live there to buy one! I suppose it also helps that the Underground is an effective and (reasonably) efficient public transport system. Especially considering that Sydney is severely lacking in that respect (but that's another rant).
Sure, once you hit the ocean in the east the zones run out which could be an unfair disadvantage compared to those living in the western suburbs but so what? If it makes ticketing and fares easier to understand then it's worth it.

So what is so hard about that? Stop trying to please everyone involved because that doesn't benefit the people who will actually be using the system. Pull your thumbs out and actually go and get this sorted. It's not that hard - swallow your whatever and do it. Hell, I'd even allow them to use my idea and see where that gets them.

Though knowing this country, it'll be another 10 years before it's put into effect.
By which stage even Ethiopia will probably have a better public transport fare system than here.