Yea, not an ideal situation when you've already paid and then people just barge!
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Apple Pay Express Mode Now Available in New South Wales
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At least something is coming. So so many times when I pass the gate, people using Their phone with express transit takes longer to sort out reader issues compared to me just tapping opal and go.
With that being said, idk if that digital opal card can be used on Apple Watch. Will have to wait and see.
The floor-to-ceiling ones with the interlocking bars. They're very user-hostile and slow. The one time someone barged through after my MetroCard swipe (this was a few years ago) it was with one of those. If I recall it was an unlimited card so I didn't lose money but was locked out until the 20 minute thing on my card reset.
Oh DUHH, one of those — right. Yes, those are horrible and clumsy. I can't imagine what an elderly person must think when trying to push that thing. Damn unlimited time limit... I've gotten screwed a couple of times like that. I usually just go to the station staff in the booth if there are any...
The EU should force Apple to open NFC to any app Dev, so all transport systems in Europe could use payments
other than Apple Pay.
other than Apple Pay.
The Opal+ trial that ended last month allowed participants to add the card to the Apple Watch, so presumably the digital card would be the same.
Don't forget, a state with a population of 5 million people spent $1.5 billion on that system.
That's what happens when a corrupt government hands out contracts to their friends.
Good to hear about this. Hopefully this feature expands to more locations.
Every time I think of Myki my blood boils. Instead of buying an off-the-shelf solution from a company with a track record of implementing world-class ticketing systems, we paid significantly more money to a company who’d never built a ticketing system to custom-build one of the worst ticketing systems the world has ever seen.
I remember when it first launched, I sat there holding my myki to the reader for 5 seconds before the gate would open. The queues at Flinders st were insane. So much slower than metcards which were validated basically instantly.
Meanwhile, in the same year, London was already beginning to accept contactless payments.
It’s ****ing embarrassing.
Yeah it's hard to even talk about it... Apparently we're getting contactless payment in 2025. I was in London last year and I just tapped my watch on the reader and it was instant. It was cool, but bittersweet.
You know as an Australian, its never even occurred to me to think about it like that! Of course Australia is littered with place names from European colonisation and a fair share of badly translated aboriginal names too.
Correct. Macroumors has not read through the NSW Gov’s transport website causing confusion. I hope they fix this.
THEY FIXED IT WHILE I WAS AWAITING MODERATOR APPROVAL. I’m going to leave this post as is.
Go to -
Express Mode for Apple Pay now available on the Opal Network
Contactless payments are now easier and faster for public transport users in NSW with Express Mode for Apple Pay becoming available on the Opal Network for iPhone and Apple Watch.
or using your search engine of choice, search for "NSW Transport", on new page find and click on "Transport News” and all the details are there.
Follow their instructions. After tapping Transit Cards Settings, a new window allows you to choose which card you wish to use by tapping on it, or the option of “None”.
These instructions are for Apple’s Contactless Payments "Express Mode" in regard to NSW's Transport System.
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I'm a resident of Sydney. It wasn't Apple who did it. It was always available. It was up to the NSW Government to switch the access on for Opal readers, like it had already done with Android phones some time ago.
Yeah but authentication is a pain when you are in rush. On watch: Double tap, select card, tap. On phone: Double tap, wait till the phone scan your face, select card, tap. I done that thousand of times, and 10% of those time I either select wrong card, or authentication failed and I wasted another second while the train is starting to move.
So yeah if this worked isntantly without needing to switch on my device, I welcome it.
Edit: I tried it today and it works flawlessly. Great job NSW government to enable this. Basically I whipped out my phone from pocket and press it to reader while I watching Netflix on iPad as I walked past. 1 sec is all it takes.
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We just call it Sydney😂
But seriously, express mode is fantastic especially while using Apple Watch. There’s absolutely no reason to buy an Adult Opal card anymore when you can just use your bank card. I’ve totally ditched my physical wallet since Covid started (thanks to now also having our driving license on the phone too).
Yes! And you don't need to authenticate your watch anymore (ie. double click the button). Tried it without looking or touching your watch and the reader, as you walk pass press the watch to the reader and voila the gate is open. Much better than before.