Steel vows to fix MyWay+ ticketing; Transport Canberra to review start decision

Transport Minister Chris Steel has pledged to fix the new MyWay+ ticketing system for the ACT’s buses and light rail, admitting that its “rocky start” had been disappointing and inconvenienced the travelling public.

Mr Steel told the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (3 December) that the ACT Government was committed to making further improvements to the system so it lived up to the community’s expectations.

“I want to acknowledge that the rollout of MyWay+ has not been as smooth as Canberrans would have liked and that this process may have caused some people an inconvenience,” he said.

Transport Canberra Deputy Director-General Ben McHugh also told the ABC that the decision to go live last Wednesday(27 November) would be reviewed.

“I think we all expected some teething issues, but in reality, we obviously didn’t expect them to be as impactful as they were on the first couple of days,” he said.

The ACT Green will also support a motion from the Canberra Liberals for the Legislative Assembly to hold an inquiry into the rollout of the ticketing system.

The government has faced a barrage of criticism since the system was turned on last Wednesday, with Greens leader and former cabinet member Shane Rattenbury posting on social media that “one week on and MyWay+ continues to fail Canberrans”.

“Really, this system was cooked before it even entered the oven,” he said.

“From buses lacking the new system entirely to passengers being overcharged, and many unable to even tap on, it’s pretty clear MyWay+ was nowhere close to being ready for rollout.

“The sheer scale of these issues speaks to a lack of proper planning, oversight and accountability.”

Greens transport spokesperson Andrew Braddock told the Assembly that the situation was beyond teething issues.

He said both the geo-fencing issue at bus stops, which made it hard to tap on and off, and the QR code problems for payment were both known before the launch.

“What I and many Canberrans would like to know is why the decision was made to proceed despite this identified and known issue,” he said.

But Mr Steel told the Assembly problems had been dealt with as they arose, the situation was improving, and updates would continue until the system was running smoothly.

He reassured travellers that the system provider NEC had been instructed to review every transaction to ensure no one has or will be charged a penalty fare for not tapping off.

Mr Steel said more than 57,000 accounts had already been created and the MyWay+ mobile app has been downloaded almost 100,000 times.

He was also keen to sell the virtues of travellers using a debit or credit card instead of a travel card or buying tickets at vending machines.

“Since MyWay+ went live, over half of all trip payments have been made using a credit or debit card, a payment method that became available to Canberrans for the first time last Wednesday,” he said.

“The benefit of this was demonstrated at the Cold Chisel concert last Thursday night, where many concertgoers were seamlessly using public transport by tapping on and off with their credit and debit cards.”

Mr Steel said the MyWay+ portal and app would be updated every few weeks while Transport Canberra identified and resolved issues as they arose and responded to community feedback.

He said updates included the switching on of real-time information in the mobile app and online journey planner, including a data feed to third-party app providers.

The ability to link and manage multiple secondary accounts by a primary account holder, such as a parent or carer, would also be added in time for the new school year.

Transport Canberra said on Monday that an update has been applied to the MyWay+ app to deal with the QR code issues when paying.

The update has been applied to the Apple version of the app, and the Google version will be updated in the coming days.

However, travellers can link a MyWay+ card, debit or credit card to an account, so the QR code does not have to be used.

The supply of cards is being stepped up to meet demand, and more retailers are expected to also come online later this month.

NEC has also been asked to make sure all ticket validators make an audible noise to make it clearer to people that a successful tap on or off has been recorded.

Ticket vending machines at major interchanges are being progressively installed over the coming weeks and are expected to be across the network and interchanges before Christmas.