Hop cards...

I thought this system was going to get rolled out for the world cup. NZBus is still the only operator with them though and I've heard squat since.

Going to become largely irrelevant to me personally very soon but wtf.

Because the system on NZBus is Snapper, with Auckland Transport's Hop branding on it.

- AT awards tender for the system to Thales
- Infratil (Snapper/NZBus) shits bricks, complaining that that tender was rightfully theirs, demands a review of the tender process
- Tender process review reinforces the award to Thales
- Infratil bitches and moans again for another review. That tender was THIERS DAMMIT!
- They get told to fuck off again, Thales has the contract.
- They proceed to go "well we're going to just roll out Snapper anyway"
- Auckland Transport has to scramble and manages to force them to do it with the Hop branding, in order to at least try and save the rollout

They did have a pass rolled out for the RWC - it was called the A-Pass and was marketed at tourists only, and worked on trains, ferries and NZBus.

Why did NZBus loose/why are other bus companies not using the Snapper system? Because the other bus companies (Ritchies, Howick & Eastern, Birkenhead) don't want their major competitor NZBus having access to their passenger loading data, for obvious commercial reasons.

Why does Snapper so desperately want in to the Auckland market? Because they are actually focused on the cashless payment side of Snapper. The transport card part is just a way to leverage themselves into that market. That's why you have to go into a retailer to top up, rather than online, or on bus. That way they can push the terminals on more retailers. They actually make their money by holding the (potentially) MASSIVE cash float from all the top ups - and earning interest on it. Supposedly, the Snapper business model falls apart without the volume the Auckland market provides. Under the real Hop scheme, Auckland Transport will hold that float - and the interest earned goes back into AT, rather than the pockets of a private scumbag company.


Summary: rollout has been ballsed up largely by AT having to fight Infratil/Snapper the whole way, rather than concentrating on the actual rollout of the actual system. Supposedly it will be good to go this year. Communication from AT is fucking TERRIBLE though.

Also presumably by "haven't heard squat" that means you haven't even read today's paper?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10778997

Payment systems should be implemented and run by local government transport bodies, not fucking private enterprises.

Saying that, Snapper works great here. But once banks and eftpos companies roll out contactless payments further I don't see them surviving.

Yeah, hence their scramble to hit the market first. Trying for the TradeMe effect - sure eBay is the big dog, but that doesn't mean shit since TM captured the local market first.

Even if they tied up the market they'd be screwed once the big players roll their versions out. For contactless retail payment, anyway. Bit of a shame really, they have some good ideas. Just gone for the wrong market imo.

Snapper should be separated from NZBus to prevent the information leak concerns. Sure they may be both Infratil but they could be regulated to operate independently.
I'm thinking it would be better for a NZ company to be utilzed cf a French company that is involved with military equipment.

http://transportblog.co.nz/2012/01/16/swap-your-hop-confirmed/

Some interesting points in the comments also.

Dang!!! I hope ma $ on my Hop card isn't wasted?!

Oh yes, a comment in the transport blog reminded me: what is the difference between zones and stages?

A stage is a point between two pre-determined stations or stops on a route. A zone refers to an area so can apply to multiple routes, free travel within the city would refer to a zone, whereas it's one stage from Mt Eden shops to Mt Roskill shops on the 267.

In Auckland we have Central zone, West zone, South zone, North zone, a one zone monthly pass will grant you unlimited travel within that zone for a month, but it'll cost extra to travel between zones.