Comments by "Neil Forbes" (@neilforbes416) on "BBC News"
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Here in New South Wales, Australia a few years ago we had the "Opal" card introduced. The system involves putting a said amount of value onto the card, for instance, $10. If you hold a Pensioner Opal gold-coloured card, a trip to Sydney from Newcastle will cost $2.60 and you can "tap on" and "tap off" all day and not go over that initial charge. To "tap on" before your ride or "tap off" after the ride, you simply tap the card on a card reader at the station where you depart or arrive. There are also Opal readers on our buses, ferries and trams(at the moment only Sydney has a tram network but they stupidly call it "light rail", which it isn't because the lines are standard gauge). Full-fare riders, I'm not sure what they pay per trip, but the idea is still the same, tap on - tap off.
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