Concession fares under MyZone from 18 April 2010

• From 18 April 2010, the NSW Government's new MyZone fare structure has delivered public transport ticketing which is easier, simpler and cheaper to use, and consistent across modes of transport in the MyZone area.
• The new fare structure applies to the CityRail, State Transit and Sydney Ferries' networks (except for premium, tourist and special events services), all private buses in the Sydney metropolitan and outer metropolitan areas, and the Stockton ferry in Newcastle.
• For NSW concession card holders, concession entitlements under MyZone remain the same or similar to previous arrangements, although some ticket products or prices may have changed.
• Entitlements and ticket products remain the same on services not covered by the MyZone structure, such as private ferries, monorail and CountryLink services.
• The new MyZone arrangements have not affected free school student transport passes, the Pensioner Excursion Ticket, the Family Funday Sunday ticket or other existing free travel entitlements.

Other concession changes

Extension of concessions to interstate seniors

• Interstate Seniors Card holders now obtain the same transport concessions as residents of NSW, under a new national arrangement.
• NSW Seniors Card holders can also now obtain the same transport concessions interstate as the seniors who are residents of the State or Territory being visited (although some restrictions may apply).

Similarly, interstate card holders can now access the following NSW seniors' concessions:

• Half fare travel on CityRail, long distance rail services (CountryLink and Great Southern Railway), and regular route bus and ferry services across NSW (government and private) ; and
• Excursion fare travel through the:
  • Metropolitan Pensioner Excursion Ticket (PET)
  • CountryLink's Country Pensioner Excursion fare on its rail and coach services; and
  • On local bus services in rural and regional areas, the Regional Excursion Daily (RED) ticket.

New concession entitlement for Companion Card holders

• The Companion Card is available for people with profound or lifelong disabilities who require assistance to carry out their daily activities. The card is issued to the person with the disability and can be used on most regulated public transport services to enable an attendant to travel with the holder free of charge. Both NSW and interstate cards are recognised on NSW public transport services.
• This card is in addition to the existing arrangements for attendants that may be shown on various NSW transport concession cards, as well as to that available to Commonwealth Carers on production of their Pensioner Concession Card.

Expansion of concession TravelTen to all concession groups

• When the PrePay Only program was introduced on Sydney Buses, all half fare concession groups obtained access to concession TravelTens. Under MyZone, this entitlement has also been extended to private bus services and government ferry services. This means the entitlement is now available to students, pensioners, seniors, war widow/ers, jobseekers, apprentices and trainees on government and private bus services and government ferry services.
• This arrangement offers greater flexibility to older citizens in particular, as they can now prepurchase their concession Singles, TravelTens, and the Pensioner Excursion Ticket for use on State Transit Prepay services as well as all other government and private bus services in the Sydney metropolitan area and outer metropolitan area (excluding premium, tourist and special events services).

Changes to concessions under the NSW bus reform process

• The NSW Government's Bus Reform program is delivering improvements in concession arrangements through its progressive introduction of new contracts for regular route bus services across NSW.
• From 4 January 2009, private bus services in rural and regional areas moved on to new contractual arrangements that deliver greatly improved concession arrangements, in line with earlier changes in the metropolitan and outer metropolitan areas.
• This completed the NSW-wide bus reform process, bringing rural and regional bus services on to the standard set of concession arrangements available on metropolitan/ outer metropolitan bus, rail and government ferry services.
• It gives consistency of entitlements to concession card holders and removes past differences between the concession entitlements available on government and private bus services.

The key concession groups benefiting from the standardisation of concession entitlements have been:

• Senior secondary students
• Tertiary students
• Apprentices and trainees
• Vision impaired persons
• Pensioners
• Seniors Card holders
• War Widow/ers

Most private ferry operators now also recognise the standard concession cards and entitlements, although not formally required to do so. Concession holders should check with the operator prior to travelling.

Changes in entitlements on buses for different types of concession beneficiaries in rural and regional areas

Infants

• Free travel is now available to children under 4 years of age on rural and regional bus services, replacing the earlier arrangement for children under 3 years of age.
• This entitlement is available for travel on regular route bus services across NSW, as well as on rail and government ferry services.
• No concession card is required.

Children (aged 4-15 inclusive)

• A child fare (or half fare concession) is available to young people under 16 years of age for travel on all bus services across NSW, as well as on rail and government ferry services.
• Previously, they were only entitled to a concession fare until the age of 15.
• No concession card is required for children under 16, however, a Proof of Age card is available for those who look older and who may need to verify their entitlement to a child fare.

Senior secondary students

• Half fare concessions are now available to senior secondary students for all their travel. Previously, concession fares on rural and regional bus services were only available for travel to and from school within specified hours during term time.
• The NSW Senior Secondary Student Concession Card is the standard concession card, and has replaced the private service’s Student's Omnibus Concession Fare Certificate on all regular route bus services.
• Students can also now use their concession card (the NSW Senior Secondary Student Concession Card) for travel on all regular route bus services rather than just on their local service for their travel to and from school.

Mature aged secondary students

• While mature aged secondary students (i.e.: 19 years and older) benefit from the same changes under the bus reforms that are available to senior secondary students, they will require a NSW Tertiary Student Concession Card and not a Senior Secondary Student card. This avoids confusion over their entitlement to a concession.
• Half fare concessions are also now available on rural and regional bus services for all travel purposes to full time mature aged secondary students of all ages residing in NSW and enrolled in a NSW/ACT secondary institution.
• Previously, students who used private bus services in rural and regional areas were only eligible for a half fare concession when under 30 years of age. This restriction no longer applies.

Tertiary students

• Half fare concessions are now available on rural and regional bus services for all travel purposes to eligible full time internal tertiary students enrolled in a NSW/ ACT tertiary institution.
• Previously, students who used private bus services in rural and regional areas were only eligible for a half fare concession on their private bus service for travel to and from classes during term time, and had to be under 30 years of age.
• The NSW Tertiary Student Concession Card is the standard concession card on all bus services (government and private) across NSW as well as on rail and government ferry services.

Apprentices and trainees

• Half fare concessions are now available to apprentices and trainees on regular route services in rural and regional areas for the first time. The entitlement is available for all travel undertaken on buses and government ferry services, and for travel between home, the workplace and college on CityRail services.
• The Indentured Apprentice/Trainee NSW Transport Concession Card is the standard transport concession card.

Vision impaired persons

• Free travel is available to people holding a Vision Impaired Persons pass for the first time on rural and regional regular route services. Previously, free travel was only available in metropolitan and outer metropolitan areas.
• The Vision Impaired Persons Pass is the standard concession card on all regular route bus services across NSW, as well as on government bus, rail and ferry services.

Other citizens

• The Regional Excursion Daily (RED) ticket is available on local regular route bus services in rural and regional areas for pensioners, Seniors Card holders and War Widow/ers. This expands their entitlements from half fare for each single ticket, to $2.50 for a daily multi-ride ticket.