Re: Concession Fares on CityRail

[David Bradshaw <alkdrmc@ozemail.com.au>]

Yes, RoA cards are no longer issued. Now generally a small hologram
sticker is attached to the student's uni-ID card. However, if the card
is not photo-ID (such as my uni-ID) an apricot coloured cardboard card
is issued with the foil attached. It says on the top:

CityRail
State Transit Authority on N.S.W
New South Wales Student Identification card
(For Tertiary/College Students aged 16 years or over)

DB.

Peter O'Halloran wrote:
> 
> David Bromage wrote:
> 
> > Haven't RoA cards been abolished? There was a bit of a fuss in Canberra
> > recently as ANU and Uni of Canberra students were in danger of not being
> > entitled to concessions in NSW.
> >
> > The ACT doesn't have any student concession card as such as ACTION buses
> > will accept a student ID card.
> >
> > In the end, Countrylink agreed to accept some sort of endorsement (in the
> > form of a sticker issued by the institution) on their student ID cards.
> >
> > STA sells (for about $15) a card which entitles ACT tertiary students to
> > concessions on CityRail.
> 
> The ACT abolished student cards a couple of years ago, and ACTION buses changed
> to accepting ID cards issued by the relevant institution. This was welcomed at
> the time by most students as it reduced the number of cards that they had to
> carry. The ACTION concession cards were free to students, but were an awkward
> size that many people had problems with.
> 
> However, the RoA card is a very different story. CityRail approached a number of
> the universities in Sydney suggesting that they change their ID cards so that
> they could be fed through the automatic barriers before the ticket to automate
> the process of confirming the ticket holder was entitled to a concession fare.
> This did not eventuate, but CityRail did agree to phase out the card and accept
> a hologram on an institution identity card instead. This was also welcomed by
> students.
> 
> But rather than let these things work smoothly and easily, Countrylink initially
> refused to accept the hologram on the ID card. Some political pressure was
> applied by someone's local MP and this was changed. State Transit is also
> supposed to accept the hologram on the ID card.
> 
> This system has been in place for close to six months now, although there are
> still many bugs/staff problems to be ironed out. Many station staff still do not
> understand the concept of the hologram/sticker on the ID card.
> 
> Peter O'Halloran
> Canberra