Opal card use in the Mountains is amongst the lowest in the State and commuters are being urged to get on the bandwagon sooner rather than later.
Figures released to the Gazette show just 53 per cent of the 184,530 train trips taken in June were made using an Opal card. This compares with an average of 70 per cent of customers across the entire train network who have made the switch from paper tickets.
And of the 44,827 trips taken on the Blue Mountains Bus Company services, again only 53 per cent used an Opal card.
For University of Western Sydney students Alex Carter from Wentworth Falls and Sid Sutton from Katoomba, the cards are great.
"I travel down to uni in Penrith so it works out much cheaper," said Alex. She thinks a lot of fellow students feel the same.
"There's more uni students on my train and we've all got them. And it means you can sleep in a bit, too."
Sid said the adult return fare to Kingswood was $14; with Opal it was about $6.
"It's one transport initiative that actually works," he said.
The Transport Minister, Andrew Constance, has called on Mountains residents to make the switch before many paper tickets are no longer issued.
"The clock is ticking with less than five months to go until we say goodbye to most paper tickets," Mr Constance said. "I'm urging customers not to wait till the last minute. The time is now to embrace the change and tap on with Opal.
"It's cheap and easy - you only ever need to buy one permanent ticket and you're always ready for travel.
"Opal has lots of benefits for everyone, including capped daily and weekly fares, free travel after eight paid journeys a week and $2.50 all day travel on Sundays," Mr Constance said.
After January 1 next year, pensioner excursion tickets, MyBus TravelTens and MyMulti daily and weekly tickets will no longer be sold.
Mr Constance conceded that the phase out of the excursion tickets will be a major change for many pensioners and seniors.
The government is working with the Blue Mountains Bus Company to help people make the switch, including providing information for customers currently travelling on pensioner excursion tickets.
Transport for NSW is also holding Gold Opal card information sessions for senior/pensioner community groups and organisations like seniors clubs, retirement villages, community centres and RSL clubs. Local organisations interested in hosting an information session for their members can request one by calling 9927 5455 or emailing opal@oohedge.com.au. Adult and child cards are available online at www.opal.com.au, by calling 13 67 25.
Both the gold senior/pensioner Opal card and the concession Opal card are available to purchase online or by phone.
