First HOP Day

 

It was the first weekday day for the new Auckland transport HOP smart card today.

More than 15,000 bus users on the North Shore swapped their Go Rider card for a new HOP card.

Today was the first day public transport commuters began tagging on and tagging off public transport, with the rollout beginning on North Star buses.

The rollout continues in coming weeks on Go West and Waka Pacific services from May 22followed by Metrolink and LINK services on  June 6.  HOP cards are available now from retail outlets.

Go Rider card balances can be transferred to the new HOP card at selected Westfield malls or at Britomart Transport Centre.

The HOP website is here

Reader Jacky was one of the first to use it. These are Jacky’s photos:


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9 Comments

 
  1. Sam says:

    Most people on my Dominion Road Express service (operated by North Star) were caught by surprise tonight. I saw a number of people lift their go rider cards and begin making the inserting motion before realizing that there was no Go Rider machine there… quite entertaining :D .

    The driver let them on free, as long as their card wasn’t punched… in that case they were told to pay cash or catch another bus. Many were worried as they assumed Metrolink had changed at the same time and they were stranded. It amazes me that so many people didn’t think to take a leaflet, of which there are some on almost every bus.

    I was the only person out of about 35 who I saw using a Hop. It worked really well - it was fast, and I didn’t need to take it out of my wallet.

  2. anthony says:

    I can imagine their blank, then confused expression when they realized. xD!

  3. Carl says:

    I don’t see why people would get stressed out about?

    even from day one in London or Perth, I the only time it came out of my wallet was you you top it up manually through a bus top, or at a station.

    I have seen girls just wave there massive handbags at it.

    it works well and it will always work well!

  4. AKT says:

    Jacky sent in some photos of her first day. They are at the bottom of the post. Thanks Jacky.

  5. James B says:

    June 6. D-day for Go Rider cards.

  6. Sam says:

    I got charged a 25c transaction fee when I topped up my card in store. is there any way to avoid having to pay this?

  7. Pete says:

    No way to avoid the charge I think if your topping up in store (not sure about the usb dongle, but you have to buy one up front first). If I recall the 25c is passed onto the retailer to encourage them to have a snapper terminal in the shop. Sadly I got pinged the 25c charge when topping up at snapper HQ a couple of weeks back which I find pretty poor form seeing its their system in the first place.

  8. Olivia says:

    I don’t even catch the bus, only the train, but I want to get one of these. It’s a pretty good saving percentage for uni students so I’ll grab one soon. $1.02 for one stage will get me to use the bus that’s for sure.

    They had a desk setup at Unitec Mt Albert today and I had a talk to the people there but they said they’re only swapping the cards out, not selling them. They did say to go to a Westfield mall though (or Britomart), so I’ll have to have a look next time I’m at one.

  9. @Sam

    We’ll have a reload kiosk at the Snapper offices in Shortland St from next week - these are free of top-up fees.

    We’re looking for more locations around town for others.

    As Pete points out, the reload fee is primarily for the retailer. A small amount covers the cost of transferring transactions across the EFTPOS network.

    Online top-ups using a Feeder (RRP $40) are also free and mean that you can top-up from anywhere you can find a PC (or Mac or Linux machine)

    Cheers
    Miki
    CEO
    Snapper

 

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