metroCARD is a

contactless smartcard A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticket ...

ticketing system for public transport services in the city (and surrounding suburbs) of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. The system is managed by

Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of the Adelaide area, around the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal passenger transport, intermodal system offering an integrated network of Buses in Adelaide, bus, Glenelg tram, ...

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, Texa ...

using technology used in – among others –

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada;

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas; and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

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

Usage

Operation

Passengers can purchase metroCARDs from eligible retailers, online, the Adelaide Metro InfoCentre at

Adelaide railway station Adelaide railway station is the central Terminal station, 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 metropol ...

, or on vending machines located at select train stations and bus interchanges. There are four main types of metroCARD: * Student metroCARDs - for primary and secondary school students (Students over 15 are required to carry a

South Australian Government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the highest ranking mem ...

approved Student ID) These cards are an orange version of the regular card and say 'Student'. * Concession metroCARDs - for tertiary students and other government issued concession card holders (e.g., Veterans health card) These cards are a green version of the regular card and say 'Concession'. * Seniors Card - South Australian issued Seniors cards are pre-programmed for use as metroCARDs. Travel is free for seniors card holders, but the card must still be validated for travel. This card doesn't look like a MetroCard but features the logo. * Regular metroCARD - for all other passengers not eligible for discounted fares. These cards are blue and say 'Regular'. Regular metroCARDs cost $5 to purchase and are subject to full priced fares. Student or concession metroCARDs cost $3.50, and are subject to discounted fares. MetroCARDs are rechargeable, and passengers can add value to the card at any time online, or by using a vending machine on board trains, trams, and select bus stations. Regular commuters are encouraged to purchase an auto-recharge, whereby a direct-debit payment of a set amount is taken each time the metroCARD value falls below the value of a peak fare.

Fares

The Adelaide Metro network operates on a flat fare system, as passengers validate their cards upon boarding a vehicle and when passing through ticket gates to pay for public transport. A single fare lasts 2 hours, and passengers can transfer between trains, trams and buses at any time during this period without incurring any additional fees. Student and concession metroCARDs are charged discounted fares, and cardholders are required to have valid student ID or proof of their concession. MetroCARDs can also be loaded with 1- ("Daytrip"), 14- or 28-day passes. These allow for unlimited travel on the Adelaide Metro network until expiry, and are a cheaper alternative for regular commuters. On 1 July 2024, new fares will apply for all Adelaide Metro bus, train and tram services. There are two designated periods on the Adelaide Metro network which determine the price of a fare: In May 2019, it was announced by the Marshall government that the ability to pay for a cheaper "two-section fare" for shorter trips would be removed in an effort to reduce fare evasion and simplify the fare structure to a single flat fare, regardless of distance travelled. The opposition claimed that there was no evidence that two-section fares were to blame for fare evasion.

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 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, railroad station, or railway station 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 a ...

fitted with the necessary equipment, for an annual fee. At a later date, bike cages were made free to access, however continue to require a metroCARD to be accessed. It was 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.

Contactless payment rollout

In 2020, Adelaide Metro began trials of contactless payments for fare payments on trams. In 2022, the rollout was extended to

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 railbuses, trolleybuses or rubber ...

buses. The rollout involves the installation of new

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contactless payment validators which accept

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and Mastercard debit payments. The new payment method will allow commuters to use physical bank cards, as well as digital wallets, to pay for travel on trains, trams and buses. Payments using the new contactless validators are processed by

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

. In late 2022, Adelaide Metro announced that contactless payment technology would be rolled out across the entire bus network. Almost all buses have been equipped with the new validators, and the rollout is expected to be completed on 1 July 2023. From 1 July 2023, metroCARDs subseded metrotickets. As a result of this, Adelaide Metro have introduced the ability to load singletrip and daytrip tickets onto metroCARDs. In June 2023, the state government announced $7 million in funding funding for the rollout of contactless payment technology on the Adelaide Metro

rail network Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

. This project would complete the rollout, allowing commuters to transfer between transport modes using contactless payment. Currently, the rollout is expected to be completed by mid-2025, and will involve replacing the existing turnstiles at

, along with installation of new validators on all trains. Once this project is complete, metrotickets will no longer be accepted on any Adelaide Metro services.

Equipment

Validators

There are three kinds of validators currently used on the Adelaide Metro network: contactless payment, metroCARD-only, and dual-purpose. * Contactless payment validators are currently rolling out across the network, and only accept metroCARD and debit card payments. These validators feature an LCD display showing information to users, such as debited value, metroCARD balance or pass expiry date and whether the transaction was successful. * MetroCARD-only validators are currently installed on trains, and previously trams. * Dual-purpose validators had previously been installed on all buses, trains and trams and accept both metroCARDs and Crouzet tickets. The validators are no longer in use on trams, and are progressively being removed from buses in favour of contactless payment validators. Both the metroCARD-only and dual-purpose validators feature indicator lights and an LED display showing basic 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 for recharging metroCARDs and checking card balance. They do not dispense metroCARDs. Vending machines on trains can also be used to purchase single trip and day trip metrotickets.Belair Line Timetable
, Adelaide Metro, 22 April 2018 These 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 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, autom ...

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, abbreviated as EFTPOS (), is a type of payment transaction in which electronic funds transfers (EFT) are processed at a point of sale (POS) system or payment terminal usually via payment methods such as ...

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

and in the public bus stop shelter at

Adelaide Airport Adelaide Airport, also known as Adelaide International Airport, is an International airport, international, Domestic airport, domestic and general aviation airport serving Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Located approximately 6 km ...

. They differ from other ticket vending machines in that they both dispense and recharge all three Metrocard types. 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

{{Fare collection systems in Australia Fare collection systems in Australia Transport in Adelaide 2012 establishments in Australia