Central Coast commuters are set to benefit from a new digital system set to make tracing items lost on public transport a lot easier.
Minister for Transport and Roads, Andrew Constance, said the Lost Property System will bring all transport modes onto one platform, making it easier for customers to submit lost enquiries.
“We know recovering an item is a pain point for our customers and once the item is gone, they think there is slim chance of getting it back,” Constance said.
“Fortunately, this isn’t the case and the introduction of this new system will streamline the process, even if you’re unsure exactly where you may have left it behind.
The Lost Property solution will use automatic matching to increase the likelihood of returning items to the owner.
“Ultimately, we will see a much more connected system so even if people have travelled across multiple modes of transport, the one enquiry can cover their full journey.
“Historically we have seen around 200 items per day left on our train network and a similar amount for buses.
“In a typical year we’re seeing around 200,000 items left on the public transport network and only around 45 per cent of those enquiries get resolved.
“Customers misplace items of material and emotional value every day and up until now the process of retrieving them has varied for each mode of transport with no way to stay up to date with your submission.
“Now customers can lodge a lost property enquiry online 24/7 and receive email notifications advising of the status until the item is found or for up to one month if the item is not found.
“They can also upload images when lodging their enquiry and make edits or remove their request after it has been submitted.”
The new system is now live and applies to all public transport across the Greater Sydney area, including the Central Coast, and for all NSW TrainLink services.
Customers can submit an enquiry via the Lost Property webform on transportnsw.info, Transport BOT and the Opal Travel app.
Sydney Trains holds items for 28 days with all unclaimed items then sent to Pickles Auctions and auctioned online.
Among the items most commonly left behind on public transport are glasses, umbrellas, wallets, mobile phones and Air pods.
Source:
Media release, Mar 29
Minister for Transport and Roads, Andrew Constance