Port Macquarie-Hastings Council says it will continue with a trial for cashless ferry ticket payments until after the Settlement Point ferry comes back online later in the year.
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The ferry is due for its regular maintenance slipping on October 16. It is expected to be out of action for around six weeks.
In the interim, the Hibbard ferry will be relocated to the Settlement Point end.
A council spokesperson confirmed a review of the trial would be held.
"At this stage usage has been low," the spokesperson said.
"We will be undertaking a review and seeking users views on the service towards the end of the year."
However, Northside Progress Association president Kingsley Searle says the trial should be extended through to the end of the Christmas holidays.
"If we are going to have a fair dinkum trial, the association believes it should continue through to the end of the Christmas break," he said.
"That is when you will get a better view of how the trial is going; when you have the October and Christmas holidaymakers coming through.
"I also think that people's habits don't necessarily change just because council is conducting a trial.
"That's why extending through to the end of January will give us a better variety of users."
The cashless trial commenced in April, 2019 and was expected to run for just six weeks.
The trial was not necessarily about testing the mobile technology, but rather testing the practicality of using mobile technology to take payments on an operational ferry site, council said.
If the trial proves successful, the cashless ticket purchase system will be rolled out to the Hibbard ferry.
The key focus of the trial is to:
- test the reliability and consistency of a cellular connection at the ferry site
- test the operator's ability to handle a device while still coordinating other ferry operations - safety is a key consideration
- test the impact of taking electronic payments as well as cash on traffic flows
- test the processing and reconciling of electronic payments through council's financial system.
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