Metrocard is a

contactless smartcard A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card, credit-card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via Near-field communication, NFC. C ...

ticketing system for public transport services in the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

city and suburbs in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The system is managed by

Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal system offering an integrated network of bus, tram, and train service throughout the metropolitan area. The network has an ann ...

and is usable on their bus, train and tram services. The contract for the system was tendered out, and in 2010 was awarded to

Affiliated Computer Services Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS) was a company that provided information technology services as well as business process outsourcing solutions to businesses, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. ACS was based in Dallas, Dalla ...

using technology used in – among others –

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada;

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas; and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, France. It was originally scheduled to become fully operative in early 2013, however due to overwhelmingly positive response from trial users it was launched on 3 November 2012.

History

The original ticketing system was based on the Crouzet system and was provided by

. It was introduced in 1987 and was intended to be used for only a few years before being replaced. Replacement plans soon fell through and the original equipment remained in use until 2012. In 2010, it was announced that

had been awarded the contract to replace the aging Crouzet system with a new

system, which would also allow the current Edmondson-sized magnetic stripe tickets to remain in use. As a result of the new system, multi-trip tickets are no longer sold as Crouzet tickets. Metrocards have replaced them, and Seniors tickets have been replaced by the new Seniors Card. Single and day-trip tickets continue to be sold as Edmondson-sized magnetic stripe Metrotickets. Passengers could trade their existing Multitrip Metrotickets in for Metrocard trips. From December 2014, validators no longer accepted Multitrip tickets, however users could continue to convert them to Metrocard Trips until 28 February 2015. In 2013, it was announced that Metrocards would be able to be used to access secure bike cages, at

railway stations A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

fitted with the necessary equipment, for an annual fee. It was also announced that, as part of the

Tea Tree Plaza Interchange Tea Tree Plaza Interchange (previously known as Modbury Interchange) is a bus interchange operated by Adelaide Metro in Modbury, South Australia as part of the O-Bahn Busway. It is a central public transport hub for the north eastern suburbs of ...

park & ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rap ...

upgrade, Metrocard users would be able to use their Metrocard to pay for parking. There are also student and senior metrocards available. Furthermore, passengers can buy a 14 or 28-day pass and put it on their metrocard.

Equipment

Validators

There are two kinds of validators: dual-purpose and Metrocard-only. Dual-purpose validators have been installed on all buses, trains and trams and will accept both Metrocards and Crouzet tickets. Metrocard-only validators have been installed alongside the dual-purpose validators on the

3000 class railcar The 3000/3100 class are a class of diesel railcars operated by the State Transport Authority and its successors in Adelaide. They were built by Comeng and Clyde Engineering between 1987 and 1996 and are the workhorse of the non-electrified sub ...

s and the

Alstom Citadis The Alstom Citadis is a family of low-floor trams and light rail vehicles built by Alstom. , over 2,300 Citadis trams have been sold and 1,800 tramways are in revenue service throughout the world, with operations in all six inhabited continents ...

trams and at secondary doors on the larger

O-Bahn Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike trolleybuses or rubber-tired trams ...

buses. Both validators feature indicator lights and an LCD display showing information to users such as ticket type, debited value and credit balance (if any), and errors.

Vending Machines

Located on every train and tram is a vending machine used for the purchase of single trip and day trip tickets. The vending machines can also recharge Metrocards. The machines accept coins and card payments, but not bills, which was a common criticism of the previous generation ticket vending machines. The ticket vending machines have a touchscreen display for passengers to choose the appropriate fare and payment method, and upon payment the machine dispenses a validated ticket for the passenger. Passengers paying using a debit or credit card interact with the

PIN pad A PIN pad or PIN entry device (PED) is an electronic device used in a debit, credit or smart card-based transaction to accept and encrypt the cardholder's personal identification number (PIN). PIN pads are normally used with payment terminals, a ...

located towards the centre to process payment. A similar version of the vending machines is located at several of the city tram stops, the Adelaide Metro InfoCentres, and some major interchanges that will only recharge Metrocards and accept

EFTPOS Electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS; ) is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS t ...

payments.

Metrocard Vending Machine

These

ticket machine A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...

s are located in the main passenger concourse at

Adelaide railway station Adelaide Railway Station is the central terminus of the Adelaide Metro railway system. All lines approach the station from the west, and it is a terminal station with no through lines, with most of the traffic on the metropolitan network eithe ...

and in the public bus stop shelter at

Adelaide Airport Adelaide Airport , also known as Adelaide International Airport, is the principal airport of Adelaide, South Australia and the List of the busiest airports in Australia, fifth-busiest airport in Australia, servicing 8.5 million passenger ...

. They differ from other ticket vending machines in that they both dispense and recharge Metrocards. These machines have a larger touchscreen, allowing for selection of different ticket types and payment methods. Payment methods accepted by this machine are coins (except 5c pieces), bills (except $50 and $100 bills), and EFTPOS.

References