SmartRider

SmartRider is the contactless electronic ticketing system of the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. The system uses RFID smartcard technology to process public transport fares across public bus, train and ferry services.

The system is used widely across the Transperth public transport network in metropolitan Perth, as well as the regional town bus services of TransAlbany, TransBunbury, TransBusselton, TransEsperance, TransGeraldton, TransHedland, TransGoldfields, TransKarratha and TransCarnarvon in Western Australian regional centres. SmartRider is not used for ticketing on Transwa train and coach services, but can be recognised as proof of entitlement to concession fares, including for coach travel on South West Coach Lines.

The SmartRider is a credit card-sized smartcard incorporating a microchip and internal aerial, allowing the smartcard to communicate with processors located at Transperth railway stations, on Transperth ferries and on Transperth and regional town bus services. The microchip enables value to be loaded onto the card, as well as allowing the journey details to be recorded and the appropriate fare deducted from the stored value on the card.

The SmartRider system is designed so that passengers can "tag on" and "tag off" any services whenever they travel through the public transport network. As of 2020-21, 78.9% of all fare-paying boardings were made using a SmartRider.

In 2018, the WA government announced that $34 million was set aside in the state budget to replace and update SmartRider with a newer system. The new system [was] anticipated to go live in 2021, with the government considering contactless credit card and mobile payments integration.

The 2021-22 State Budget also allocated $15 million to upgrade SmartRider as part of an overall $57.8 million system revamp, which will include the option for commuters to tag on to the network using their mobile phone or credit card – a key McGowan Government 2021 election commitment.

More than 4200 new SmartRider machines and new Ticket Vending Machines will be installed, with the new payment technology now expected to roll out across the network from 2023. Thus requiring existing cards to be swapped with ones incorporating more advanced encryption than the present MIFARE Classic technology.