In just a few short weeks the real HOP card card rolls out to the rail network. At platforms people may have seen the ticket machines which can be used to purchase single tickets and also will be used to top up HOP cards and they may have also seen the the tag posts at the various entry points. Further if people visit either Britomart or Newmarket it is now pretty much impossible to miss the fare gates that have been installed. To make sure the system is all working Auckland Transport is running a pilot programme and I have been lucky enough to be part of that so have been able to have a go at using the system and I thought I would share my thoughts:
Topping up
I’ll start with topping up as that is what you are going to have to do before you use your card. The screen on the top up machine tells you to place the card into the reader which is seems simple enough but the natural instinct is to insert it like you would on a credit card. AT are apparently planning on placing some more stickers on the machines to make this clearer. In this case however the slot is like a little tray that you just sit the card in and doing so automatically takes you to a screen to select what you would like to do, as shown below.
I just wanted to put some money on the card so I selected HOP money top-up and you are then presented with a range of preset amounts or you can chose your own. It is worth noting that there is a 25c top up fee which is the same as the Snapper HOP cards. The HOP card details also lets you check the balance and see your transaction history.
After picking the amount you want it takes you straight to the payment screen which is the same as for purchasing a single paper ticket. All up a very quick and easy process with perhaps the only suggestion would have been to make the buttons on the product selection page a bit bigger.
Using the card for Travel
Using the card is incredibly quick and easy, I made a little video showing me tagging on and off and as you can see it works equally well either in or out of my wallet.
I found the posts really quick and responsive. It is a bit hard to see but the amount of the trip is shown as having been deducted on the screen along the the remaining balance. About the only odd thing I have come across, and I hope it is only to do with the pilot, is that the literature that came with the card said the penalty fare for not tagging was equivalent to a 4 stage fare which means anyone like me who is 5 stages or more from their destination is better off not tagging off. I assume that Auckland Transport will change that before going live.
All up the whole thing was very easy which is great. My only gripe is that the machines themselves are often not working. For a few days in a row one of the machines at my local station wasn’t working properly while the other one has been wrapped up in plastic for over a month after being vandalised. I have also witnessed and had reports of a number of other stations where the machines simply aren’t working so this is something that AT will really need to both sort out and get on top of quickly. If they can get the machine issues sorted out then I think the system will be great.
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The transaction speed when you tag on/off is up there with London’s Otster. It really does leave the Snapper cards and tag posts in the dust.
Really looking forward to using New Lynn station after the Hop card is introduced generally! They’ve got one tag post at each end of the platform so, when you’ve got the afternoon trains discharging hundreds of passengers you’re going to get long queues and a lot of people just choosing not to tag off. They’ll be fined automatically, so another PT disincentive. Also being on the pilot programme I now realise why it was so much easier to use an Oyster card: gated platforms except for DLR, which means you don’t have to remember to tag off. Must say though, I’m quite pleased at the speed of the tagging transaction, faster, I think than Oyster, and the contrast with the wretched, thankfully nearly defunct, Snapper card is more than evident.
I’ve found the system pretty good as well, fast etc.
One piece of feedback I gave was that there should be a tag point on the machines – otherwise a top-up trip involves going to the machine, then going to the tag-on, which in many cases is at the end of the platform, a long way from the machine.
Fine as long as you plan for it, but not good when you and lots of others are buying from the machine and the train is arriving! Gotta focus on convenience & ease of use, AT.
Will there be a web/online top up facility like TfL have for the Oyster card? The minimum balance auto top up functionality on that one is great – hope this is an option as would reduce the waiting at ticket machines and also the lost revenue impact if a machine is down due to vandalism (it is Auckland after all).
Yes you will be able to top up online. That isn’t live yet but it should be in the future.
Any plans to make it easier to buy them?!
They’re not even available for sale yet – so yes it will be easier.
Why are they persisting with that 25c top up fee? None of the systems I have regularly used overseas charge any fee.
I know – that was a shock for me.
Snapper doesn’t even charge anything to top up at their (very few) kiosks!
I don’t know about Snapper in Auckland, but Snapper in Wellington does charge a 25c topup fee, although for the first six months after rollout they waived that fee.
Another good solution to adopt from Wellington: if you don’t tag off, you will be charged the maximum fare for that particular bus journey, right up to the terminus. This may mean 1 stage only, depending on how close to the terminus you board the bus, or it may mean 3-4-5 stages.
I am talking about at kiosk (of which there are very few), Snapper does not charge a top up fee for these, as evidenced in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rLzpypKY8Vs
Also you are incorrect about the way Snapper manages penalty fares. In my family a child travelled on a one stage ride. Th bus only travelled 2 stages in total, yet she was charged for an 8 stage adult fare. Done correctly I think this is the correct approach.
Possibly it is different in Wellington where I believe the Snapper system knows the bus route??? (I am unsure about this)
I think people will feel very resentful about the 0.25c fee. Well I know I will! No extra charge for topping up your oyster.
+1AC especially as the 25c fee for snapper was to encourage retailers to have snapper terminals in their shops. It seems just another way to clip the ticket – pun intended of the fare paying public
Well yeah, they will be easier to buy after they go on sale, but barely. As far as I can tell, you will only be able to walk up and buy one at three stations in the whole of Auckland. What’s that? 10 counters total?
There will be mobile teams going around all of the stations at different times, too.
Mobile teams at different times doesn’t help with being just able to buy one when I want to. I can’t think of a good reason why you can’t order one online or buy them at dairies – what would the problem be with that?
Because that would be convenient, helpful and well-organized, which doesn’t really sound like Auckland Transport’s style.
What AT should at least have are vending machines at train stations that sell HOP cards, plus unhealthy junk food to pay for the vending machines.
I thought you will be able to buy them online, or did I hear incorrectly, quite possible that I did?
Wow that’s way faster than the SNOP card!
Say a school kid was to lose the card or have it stolen and it still had a balance of $100, will they be able to cancel the card online and then shift the money to a new card?
I would say there will be two options with the card in line with what is common overseas. You can either have a registered personal card for which you have an account linked to your name and address, which you can set automatic top ups and manage your account online. With a registered account you can cancel the card itself and have a new one issued, while the money stays on your account.
The other option is an anonymous unregistered card for those that don’t want to set up an account or share their information. In that case the account is pegged to the card so it works like cash, if you lose it you lose it. I expect you would have less functionality without an account, probably couldn’t do automatic top ups for example.
It’s a bit like prepay cellphones, you can only transfer credit and get a new sim on the same number if you registered it in the first place, otherwise it stays anonymous.
Which is also the way Snapper Hop (“Your Ticket To Auckland”) works.
My issue is about the pricing, or at least the publishing of finalised prices. I catch a mixture of stages on the train, sometimes 4 stages, other days 2 stages depending on how late I work and where I need to pick my infant son up from. Money is tight and I would like to budget my costs including train fares. I rang AT and was advised I would not be able to purchase 10 trips but will be charged on the Hop card for each single trip with an at least 10% discount. As examples for my 4 stage and 2 stage, the AT operator said I would be charged $5.04 (4 stage) and $3 (2 stage). This was a different answer from the person I spoke to at Britomart (the ones that were standing around the new machines for a few weeks). I asked the operator if AT could publish what the 10% discounted fare would be for each stage, because of the differing answers and as I needed to budget. And I assume, if most people are going to be using the Hop card in place of 10 trip tickets, they’d be referring to the 10% discounted fare, rather than the full fare currently published. The AT operator couldn’t confirm if this would happen.
I have now been told by AT that for 2 stage single trip using the Hop card, I will be charged $3.06, not $3 as told previously. This would mean I will be paying more for 10 trips (ie now: $30, after Oct: $30.60 for 10 trips). This is exactly what I was concerned about. If had budgeted and only loaded enough for $30 (the old 10 trip cost), I would have been short. Again AT could not confirm when they will be publishing the new 10% discounted fares.
Gus, I think this newspaper clipping Ben Ross uploaded might be relevant to you.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/106110855/At-Responds-Small-Fry0001
It’s now more than a year since Gus raised his concern, and the folks who run the AT Hop transition are still not publishing any information about how their software is supposed to be handling transfers between bus and train. Nor are they publishing their intended policy on transfers. Currently (as at 5 Dec 2013) I see at least five different fares for a trip between Glen Eden and downtown or vice versa — the cost may depend on which bus line I use, whether I’m transferring from a bus to the train or vice versa, whether I transfer within a few minutes or not, and perhaps the phase of the moon!
(In case you’re wondering about the bus-train combo — the fastest way to travel from the West to Auckland Uni is by bus to Mt Eden or Grafton, then catch the next bus to campus. On the return you can catch just about any bus heading up Symonds St — depending on the one you catch, you’ll transfer to the train at Grafton, Mt Eden, or Kingsland. This transfer avoids the slow trip by train through Newmarket. And it now gives you the added “pleasure” of wondering how much you’ll be charged by the AT Hop system.
Date/Time Transaction Credit Debit HOP Money
Balance
26/11/2013 10:08:02 a.m. Tag off : 3 Symonds St $2.56 $57.47
26/11/2013 10:04:14 a.m. Tag on : 191 Park Rd $60.03
26/11/2013 10:01:59 a.m. Tag off : Grafton $5.04 $60.03
26/11/2013 9:31:10 a.m. Tag on : Glen Eden $65.07
25/11/2013 6:50:24 p.m. Tag off : Glen Eden $3.55 $65.07
25/11/2013 6:26:27 p.m. Tag on : Kingsland $68.62
25/11/2013 6:25:17 p.m. Tag off : 2 Sandringham Rd $1.62 $68.62
25/11/2013 6:15:38 p.m. Tag on : 36 Symonds St $70.24
25/11/2013 9:47:11 a.m. Tag off : Grafton $5.04 $70.24
25/11/2013 9:21:47 a.m. Tag on : Glen Eden $75.28
22/11/2013 8:32:58 p.m. Tag off : Glen Eden $5.04 $75.28
22/11/2013 7:45:20 p.m. Tag on : Grafton $80.32
22/11/2013 9:46:13 a.m. Tag off : Grafton $5.04 $80.32
22/11/2013 9:19:43 a.m. Tag on : Glen Eden $85.36
21/11/2013 7:02:15 p.m. Tag off : Glen Eden $4.05 $85.36
21/11/2013 6:27:19 p.m. Tag on : Kingsland $89.41
21/11/2013 12:18:02 p.m. Tag off : Grafton $5.04 $89.41
21/11/2013 11:36:55 a.m. Tag on : Glen Eden $94.45
20/11/2013 7:03:49 p.m. Tag off : Glen Eden $5.04 $94.45
20/11/2013 6:20:53 p.m. Tag on : Grafton $99.49
To add to the excitement: whenever you play the “AT Hop lottery” you run the risk of paying a penalty of AT Hop’s choice (“up to $20”) if you forget to tag off, or if you don’t notice that your card didn’t swipe properly (e.g. because of a nearby purple-Hop card or credit-card with a tap-and-go feature). Apparently my fail-to-swipe penalty is currently $5.04 but this is subject to change without notice, indeed there seems to be *no* published notice of any penalty policy for fail-to-swipes or mis-swipes (other than a website assurance that the penalty won’t be more than $20 — under current policy, that is ….)
Related to the detail of dollars & cents – the machines don’t let you specific a top-up in cents.
This seems daft when:
a. the cash fares let you do this by neccessity
b. you want to make sure you have enough money for the week/fortnight/however long until your next top-up.
I’m paying exactly $3.00 per 2-stage trip on my AT Hop pilot card.
Do we know how they are going to police tagging on and off activity? It occurred to my devious mind (I won’t do it – I am an honest person) that unless there is a way of confirming I have tagged on all I need to do is get on the train, and then get off at an open station and catch a bus. In other words I get on at Sunnyvale, get off at Mount Eden and catch a 1 zone trip into town. Surely to impose the system they will have to be able to scan the cards while I am in transit to ensure that tagging on has been done?
From what I understand, staff will have a handheld machine that can be used to check if a card has been tagged on or not and that there will probably be random checks done.
Yes, staff will be able to scan cards to check they are tagged on.
I am worried about the level of vandalism already reported. This has no moving parts – surely it should be pretty resistant. The fact that it isn’t REALLY makes me worry. Just think of the flak they will get if people can’t tag on (or off), and then get into trouble or hundreds are charged penalty fares on a single morning at a particular station…
You can only make glass so strong and still be funtional. Maybe NZ look at some of the idiots wreck these machines, as other countries dont sem to suffer such issues with these machines.
I see that the rail replacement busses in November will not accept AT HOP cards, but only paper tickets.
“I am worried about the level of vandalism already reported. This has no moving parts – surely it should be pretty resistant. The fact that it isn’t REALLY makes me worry”
Great for the monopoly supplier of hardware, though.
So how do I transfer the funds from my Snapper Hop to the AT Hop. I generally travel by train, but I have a Snapper for the rare occasion I need the bus. I doubt if I will use the $$ on the Snapper before it expires ?
You’ll probably have to wait until next year when NZBus switches over to do that. Otherwise just spend the balance at your local dairy :-).
I topped my AT Hop card up via Mastercard on Sunday. Will there be an option for internet banking soon?
I was told that topping up online would be instant. I presume that would be the case if I was to go to a machine and top up with my cashflow card?
If my current experience with online transactions and ATHOP are any indication of what we should expect, don’t expect much. I registered and added $$ to the card Monday morning, it is now Wed morning and still no funds on my card. There was a disclaimer when I top’d up that there may be a delay of up to three days, but I was hoping that would be the exception and not the norm. Seriously if they are going to hold my money for three days before releasing the funds to my card, then I will find another method to top up (ie top up at a machine). The ease of online transfers is simply not there 8-(
Have you swiped your card on a hop post to get the money to show up? It won’t be there until you do that.
Friday morning I went to tag on at Waitakere, so I did and the machine said ‘tag on ok’ with my hop card balance. I hopped on the train, then a revenue protection officer accused me of not tagging on and a few other passengers too. I had to pull out an old 10 trip 6 stage ticket to show him I was prepared for him to click it and to avoid trouble. I did however tag on earlier. I received a penalty fare of $5.06 when I tagged on at henderson later on to head home then was charged a full non discounted fare for a 6 stage trip another time all because this man with this scanner thought I did not tag on earlier. Either, the scanner wasn’t working or he wasn’t doing his job properly. Bossing his colleagues around and passengers too. He kicked a passenger off, accusing him of not tagging off then himself and another colleague made this poor young man pay for his ride, again, accusing him of not tagging on when he did.
Friday morning that was, heading from Waitakere to Grafton, hence the non discounted full $6.90 fare with my AT HOP card. Then, after stopping in Henderson later on in the day, had a penalty fare of $5.06 because apparently, to the man with the scanners assumptions, I had not tagged on that morning.
I would suggest emailing AT to let them know. Things won’t change without people advising them of what is happening.
http://www.maxx.co.nz/feedback/complaint/vehicle-complaint.aspx
I think it’s as good a reason as any to have gates at all stations. The PR value of not having humans decide who has or has not paid is probably considerable in terms of patronage.
I think it’s a shame you ant tag off remotely, eg, online. Would potentially solve alot of problems, it’s such a drag to tag off sometimes (especially when the bus driver’s impatient and not prepared to wait for you) . Each card should have a unique identification number, in the event that you forget to log off, you simply enter said number, into the website and it gives you the option to tag off.
can we use the new hop cards to purchase food like the old ones? 🙂