Castley secures inquiry to probe MyWay+ procurement, testing and delivery

The procurement and troubled rollout of ACT’s new public transport ticketing system will be investigated by a Legislative Assembly committee after Greens support ensured the success of Opposition Leader Leanne Castley’s motion in the chamber today (4 December).

Ms Castley said the inquiry will consider the procurement and delivery of the MyWay+ system and opportunities to improve the quality and transparency of government procurement more generally.

“It is clear that there are serious issues with the MyWay+ system, and it is falling short of expectations,” Ms Castley said.

“This inquiry is an opportunity for us to understand what has gone wrong and ensure we learn the right lessons for future projects.”

Ms Castley told the Assembly that with new products and systems, some challenges were outside of our control, “but what we can control is what we take from those setbacks, what we can learn and how we can improve because this won’t be the last major project the ACT Government delivers”.

“And if we can learn some lessons now, if we can improve how we communicate or test the rollout of major changes, we can support a better and a smoother experience for Canberrans.”

With the Greens providing the numbers to secure Assembly support for the motion, the government also backed the call for an inquiry.

Transport Minister Chris Steel said the government supported scrutiny of the implementation of MyWay+ as a way to build confidence in the system.

“We want to make sure that MyWay+ is a good ticketing solution for the community over the next decade,” he said.

But the priority at the moment was ironing out any remaining issues with the system.

“There are still some issues that are being resolved, and I look forward to the inquiry taking place and the opportunity for the government to outline what occurred prior to the launch in relation to the testing,” Mr Steel said.

“And it is disappointing, and I will put it on record, that despite that testing, there were some issues on launch day.”

An amendment from Independents for Canberra’s Thomas Emerson means the inquiry will also look at the timing of the transition period and rollout, coming during an election campaign and soon after the election, and the adequacy of the public information campaign.

It will also consider the data security of the MyWay+ system to ensure people’s private information is protected.

Outside the chamber, Mr Steel said the project schedule was dictated by the switching off of the 3G system the old MyWay system relied on.

He said it was disappointing that despite the level of testing NEC did, and the feedback from testers, that some of those issues weren’t addressed properly.

“That will obviously be a focus for the inquiry, and we welcome the scrutiny of that, which will obviously help us to improve how we undertake that user testing for all projects,” Mr Steel said.

Mr Steel said the system was functional and Canberrans were using it as it was intended to be used, but there were still issues that needed to be resolved.

Transport Canberra deputy director-general Ben McHugh said a large percentage of the travelling population was taking advantage of the new ways to pay.

“We’re working at the edges now to make sure that that experience is great for everyone,” he said.

Mr McHugh said more significant problems were not expected, but if they arose, Transport Canberra would respond as quickly as it could.

The new Environment, Planning, Transport and City Services committee will conduct the inquiry and is expected to report in June 2025.