Member for Wagga Wagga Dr Joe McGirr and Busabout Director Tony Calabro are proud to announce the introduction of tap-and-go payment options for public transport in Wagga. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Wagga Wagga will be the first regional city in NSW to receive cashless payment options for its public transport following a successful trial in Bathurst and Dubbo.
In the next six to eight weeks, Busabout’s 20-plus buses will be fitted with electronic payment options.
Member for Wagga Dr Joe McGirr made the announcement on Friday (21 March) morning stating it was a huge win for the city.
“Contactless systems on buses has been something constituents have been coming to me about for the last few years,” he said.
“If people go to Sydney, they see the system in Sydney and they see how easy it is. We’re still using cash in Wagga. It begs the question, why are the regions behind?
“I asked the (Transport) Minister (Jenny Aitchison) a question about this in the House last year, and the minister indicated that there have been trials and they had gone well.
“Today we’re able to say they are going to roll out the system to regional NSW with Wagga being right at the front of that queue and we expect it to happen in the next six to eight weeks.”
Popular Wagga figure and frequent bus user Ray Goodlass said the decision to move to cashless options was an obvious one for the city but he warned against phasing out cash.
“It’s long overdue, and it’s a step in the right direction,” he said.
“People are increasingly using cash less and less. It’s important that they can tap on simply with their phone or their debit or credit card when they’re using buses, and it will also therefore hopefully encourage more use of public transport rather than relying on private cars.
“However, I would not be in favour of cash being abolished. I think that really would be a retrograde step, because not everybody is cashless; I hardly ever use cash these days at all, but some people are still using only cash, and that would rule out public transport for them if it was only, you know, card payments.”
There was some confusion on Friday over whether bus users would still have the option of paying cash once the new technology for card payments was installed.
Bussabout director Tony Calabro said: “There’s probably a three-year lapse when you can still pay cash. Then it’s going to be contactless”
Dr Joe McGirr said “people will still be able to use cash in a transition period.”
However, in a statement provided after this article was initially published, a Transport for NSW spokesperson said: “Transport for NSW is not phasing out cash payments on buses in Wagga Wagga. The option to pay by cash will remain, alongside the new contactless payment technology, once installed. In Wagga Wagga, 21 local buses are due to be fitted out with the tap and go payment technology in coming months.”
Accepted cards include American Express (AMEX), Mastercard, and Visa credit or debit cards. Digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Samsung Pay will also be accepted.
Busabout Director Tony Calabro said he and Dr McGirr had pushed for the move to contactless payments for many years and the change would entice more people to use public transport.
“People are using less and less cash,” Mr Calabro said.
“So it just makes sense that you can tap on with your phone. It’s just been a great deal for everyone. So you don’t have to carry cash. The drivers don’t have to carry cash, because we have a lot of people who have had business and drivers in Sydney being robbed. This completely eliminates that threat.”
UPDATE: The article was amended after publication after Transport for NSW provided a statement to clarify that it is not phasing out cash payments on Wagga Wagga buses.
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