Opal Walkers

I must be truly angry about the changes to the Opal card, because I'm writing a second blog about it!

I keep reading about "Opal Runners" & why it's a big thing, & trying to find out some useful numbers to counter-argue the government's knee-jerk reaction to the idea that "some people" are gaming the system.
It appears that "the system" is strictly the light rail. Why they didn't think this would happen for the light rail after "gaming" had been going on for so long on the trains, I don't know - there's some short-sightedness to begin with.

In the argument that the problem that occurs on the light rail extends to the heavy rail, they used some stats from two very close railway stations - 400m apart - saying that this was an example of the same problem: people who would run between the stations to 'pretend' to travel on the rail.

This is silly.

Why pretend to travel? Who does this? You would need to be pretty desperate to run that distance several times just to earn money (a pittance) or save money.

The reality is much more co-ordinated & generally involves less exertion. Let's face it, those who are determined to save a few dollars on train travel are probably lazy & inventive.

Scenario 1: lunch-time train trips. There are four people in the office who travel by train. In pairs, take the other pair's opal cards & catch a train to the next station using your own card. Leave the station, come back in using the other pair's cards, & travel back to the point of origin. Two hours later, the other pair does the same with all four cards. You get a little exercise, some conversation, some time away from the office, some sunshine, ... lots of benefits. This works even better when the station you go to has a tapping post on the platform. This also works best where there are frequent trains in the middle of the day.

Scenario 2: Monday evening driving. You & a friend (or more) drive between stations where the station entrance is near the road, alternately tapping on & off at each station. This works best farther out of the CBD. In particular, you will put in more effort farther out because your commuter trip into the city is so expensive.

Scenario 3: actual exercise (solo). If you're between two stations in the CBD, walk to one, catch a train to the other, then circle back to the office. If you time things right, you can get your cup of coffee on the way & enjoy it outside. If you happen to work around Martin Place, the variety of such trips will keep you amused all day.

None of these scenarios involves running or short distances between stations. Also, not only are the 'games' hard to stop - because they look like natural patterns of behaviour - but the onus is on the card owner to participate directly to get the benefit, & get some exercise to boot (rather than paying someone to do the work).

I am dead against profiteering. Entrepreneurs who live off loopholes make me uneasy. People who take full benefit of the rules as written to minimise the pain that those rules impose on them, however, have my full support.

If all you want to do is to stop the entrepreneurs, then simply break their advantage & ensure that a card can't reach its maximum paid journeys on Monday. It's that simple. If there need to be 'mulitple efforts' on their part, they will leave the system, & those 'gaming' it for a small discount by having some exercise over several days can continue on their merry way walking.