METROCARD

Ms BETTISON (Ramsay) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Transport Services. Can the minister update the house about the online recharge facility now available for the Metrocard ticketing system?

The Hon. C.C. FOX (Bright—Minister for Transport Services, Minister Assisting the Minister for the Arts) (14:52): I thank the member for this important question. I am delighted to advise that the rollout of the Metrocard ticketing system for buses, trains and trams continues to be a resounding success, and today we managed to launch the online recharge facility.

The Metrocard system replaces the old system which was installed in 1987. I should make it very clear to the house that we have bought a new system because the old one had become obsolete and we could no longer find the pieces to maintain the system with, so we went out and bought really world's best practice and in November we installed the Metrocard system here. At this point in time, more than 60 per cent of the trips carried out are using the Metrocard. Particular success has been with the Seniors Card.

Today, we launched the online recharge facility. What that means is that you can go online and register your name online and your card number online, and then with a credit card you can recharge your card online. You can either do it that way for any sum you like or you can actually have a 'set and forget' facility, so that when you get to a certain amount of money, when you have only $5 left on the card, your credit card will automatically top it up.

I am really pleased that this has been launched today. As we know, a lot of people, regardless of their age, now do a lot of things online—banking, shopping, you name it—and this is just another way of making this particular piece of infrastructure even easier for South Australian commuters to use.