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The incentives by the New South Wales government for Opal card users to combine public and private mobility providers could help riders navigate what is known as the “first-mile-last-mile” challenge of getting to and from public transit hubs. That is one of the things that providers of mobility-as-a-service, or MaaS, platforms are struggling to resolve.
The AU$3 credit the government is offering amounts to almost a full subsidy of the public transit portion of the trip for the low end of distance-based fares. For example, regular Sydney Metro and train fares are $3.61 for single-trip rides of up to 10 kilometers, and $3.20 for bus and light rail rides up to 3 kilometers.
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A trial to be held later this year in Australia’s largest city, Sydney, if it proves successful, could offer one example for how agencies can encourage customers to take multimodal transport combining public and private operators. The economics behind the New South Wales government’s trial offer are unclear, however.