[CT] Ticketing system faces further delays

[Barry Drive]

From The Canberra Times online

BY GRAHAM DOWNIE
13 Jan, 2011 01:00 AM

The introduction of ACTION's $8 million ticketing system has been further delayed as the equipment supplier rectifies a technical failure identified in a recent trial.

The contract for the supply of the system was signed almost two years ago when it was estimated full operation would begin early last year. That was later revised to January this year, but has been bumped out again to February.

In June, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope promoted the new system by revealing the design of the smart card, to be known as MyWay. The yellow, blue and white card includes a microchip which will be read without the need to remove the ticket from wallet or purse.

In late April Mr Stanhope said, ''The Government is on track to deliver the state-of-the-art ticketing system by the end of this year.''

In its annual report for 2009-10, issued on September 15, the Department of Territory and Municipal Services said, ''The new $8million MyWay 'SmartCard' ticketing system is due to be implemented in late 2010. This will mean quicker boarding times, greater flexibility for patrons and the ability to monitor passenger trends and adjust services accordingly.''

The department's transport and infrastructure executive director, Tom Elliott, has repeatedly said the system would not be introduced until it had been thoroughly tested. He said in late August the target for general public use was early January, enabling the system to be tested during the quieter holiday period.

A trial of the system began in December with 350 users. A spokesman for the department said the trial had provided valuable input to fine tune the system and ensure it was ready for broader roll-out.

''It did also identify a technical issue on the driver's MyWay control unit in certain situations.''

The fault involved the freezing of the driver's unit. This was being fixed by the equipment supplier.

Given the technical difficulties with ticketing systems in cities such as Melbourne and Sydney, the ACT Government was taking a prudent approach to rolling out its new ticketing system.

Subject to the technical issue being successfully rectified, MyWay was expected to be progressively introduced from February.

[Buzz Killington]

Best to have it working properly from the outset. There's no need to rush this (not just saying that because I'm getting heaps of free rides thanks to the faulty old machines..)