Auckland Integrated Fares System Integrated fares
Auckland Integrated Fares System (AIFS), branded AT HOP, is the creation of an integrated smartcard ticketing system that can be used on trains, ferries and most buses. The AT HOP roll-out on buses is expected to be completed by the end of March 2014.
Auckland Transport has been working with Thales to develop the technology that will be required to implement the system. This includes the back-end system, retail and top-up devices and the tag-on/off devices for rail, ferry, and bus.
Project overview
In 2009, Thales was awarded the contract for creating a fully-integrated smartcard system across all of Auckland’s modes of public transport. AT HOP is similar to London’s Oyster system and Hong Kong’s Octopus. It’s benchmarked against some of the best systems in the world.
In December 2010, Auckland Transport signed an agreement with NZ Bus and Snapper for the introduction of the purple HOP and its use on NZ Bus services in December 2010. Auckland Transport’s approach was to start offering core functions and then to phase in additional functionality.
The purple HOP card with Snapper functionality was launched in May 2011 and successfully resulted in over 75,000 smartcard users in a few months.
The AT HOP card was launched in October 2012 for gradual use on trains from 27 October 2012, ferries in November 2012, and buses in 2013.