The New South Wales Government plans to recover unused balances on dormant Opal cards and invest the funds in active transport initiatives.
A bill introduced to the state parliament last week will allow Transport for NSW to make use of funds on unregistered cards that have not been tapped for five years or more.
There are an estimated 17 million Opal cards with positive balances that will not have been used for years by 2026–2027, many of which are thought to belong to interstate or international visitors who purchased one-off Opal credit on unregistered cards.
The average unused balance per card is $4, with an estimated total balance of $70 million across those cards.
There is no way to directly contact people if they have an unregistered card.
The recovered funds will be used for active transport initiatives, including more Opal bike lockers and building a better system for shared e-bikes, including taking them off footpaths.
There will be a year-long communications campaign to prompt people who have not used their card in five years to refund or transfer their unspent balance. More information is available here.
At the end of a year, Transport for NSW will be able to recover those funds.
Minister for Transport, John Graham, said: "Sydney is a global destination and a magnet for visitors which is one reason why there may be so many Opal cards – 17 million of them – left unused with dormant balances for five years or more.
"This bill proposes to put those otherwise unused funds into transport investments, particularly much-needed initiatives that will connect people to transport hubs by better active transport infrastructure and Opal-powered bike lockers.
"These are things that will benefit the people of NSW using the network every day."
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