NEC wanted a slower transition to MyWay+ but government said no, inquiry told

MyWay+ provider NEC wanted a longer, incremental implementation plan for the ACT’s new public transport ticketing system but was overruled by Transport Canberra.

The eventual switchover from 27 November last year was beset with glitches and bugs, some of which are still being sorted out.

NEC has told the Legislative Assembly inquiry into the procurement and delivery of MyWay+ that it had developed a 20-month multi-phase transition plan for switching from MyWay to the new next-generation ticketing system.

This would have meant MyWay services continuing as the MyWay+ hardware was installed and commissioned, and while integration and testing of the new system was conducted.

However, NEC said that after a review of this plan, Transport Canberra believed the gradualist approach would cause a communication headache and create customer confusion and dissatisfaction.

It said Transport Canberra then directed NEC Australia to investigate a single-phased transition plan, which was adopted and used.

The ACT Government, in its submission, said that the switchover only proceeded after an independent program review of NEC and Transport Canberra’s readiness to launch.

It found that MyWay+ was ready for launch and could be successfully supported from day one.

However, a subsequent brief from TCCS advised that further delays with installing equipment on buses meant the whole fleet would not be ready until 12 December.

Nonetheless, critical items from the review had been addressed, core financial management functions within the MyWay+ account were operable, and adequate contingency plans for Go-Live were in place, the government said.

However, a number of customer issues were experienced using the new system and following the launch day.

These included scanning glitches, faulty validators, a lack of new MyWay+ cards and problems with the app.

Other features that were promoted as advances on the old system, including access to real-time information and journey planning, also did not materialise.

But the government said half of the identified issues were resolved in the first two days and core functions were now working, with other issues being fixed.

“The ACT Government acknowledges the issues experienced following Go-Live have impacted customers and caused frustration, and did not deliver the seamless experience planned. Transport Canberra acknowledged these concerns and apologised to the community for not meeting full expectations upon launch,” the government said.

It said Transport Canberra and NEC had been working to identify and triage these issues and address them progressively through updates to the MyWay+ operating system online account and mobile app.

“Despite the issues identified, significant improvements compared to the previous MyWay system have already been experienced by most MyWay+ users, and the ACT Government is confident in the ability of the MyWay+ system in providing a long-term solution for Canberra’s transport needs,” the government said.

It said that almost a quarter of Canberrans had already downloaded the MyWay+ app (with almost 113,000 people registering accounts to date) to plan their journeys in real-time.

Over 5.8 million taps across 2.5 million journeys had been made with MyWay+, and around half were by commuters using the contactless payment options, including linked credit or debit cards for trips, which were not previously available.

Almost 88,000 MyWay+ cards were active, and $1.2 million in travel credits from over 56,000 old MyWay cards had been successfully transferred to new MyWay+ accounts.

NEC also said that MyWay+ was not a bespoke product for the ACT Government but based on elements it had deployed elsewhere around the world, including through the Surat Money Card in India, City Bus in Ahmedabad, PASPY in Japan, CDC in the Northern Territory and in Christchurch, New Zealand.