27 November 2024

Transport Canberra apologises for disastrous first day of MyWay+ system

| James Coleman
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man standing next to a bus

Transport Canberra (TC) deputy director-general Ben McHugh has his team working around the clock to resolve the issues by tomorrow. Photo: James Coleman.

Transport Canberra has apologised for the disastrous launch of the new MyWay+ ticketing system and committed to ironing out all of today’s bugs in time for tomorrow.

A six-week trial period (during which travel on public transport was free) came to an end this morning (27 November), when commuters and school kids began tapping onto buses and light rail with either new MyWay+ cards, Mastercard or Visa bank cards, or a QR code on the MyWay+ app on their smartphone.

Except it was hardly that smooth for everyone.

The directorate has received a deluge of complaints today from customers who found the machines refused to scan their cards or QR codes, or only scanned once either to tap-on or tap-off.

Up to 18 (or 25 per cent) of the ticket validators at the major interchanges and light-rail stops weren’t working this morning either.

READ ALSO Fare Free Friday heralds new era for public transport system

The issues prompted TC executives to front a media conference around noon today, where deputy director-general Ben McHugh apologised for the “teething troubles”.

“I apologise to anyone who was inconvenienced, absolutely, I do,” he said.

“This definitely was not our intention and we’re working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Mr McHugh said the six-week trial had returned good results, but there was no way to be sure the new system would perform perfectly when rolled out en masse.

“The system was ready for launch, and we knew there were going to be things that would only be exposed once we put it into service. Today’s just the first day we’ve had 40,000 people use it.”

Chris Steel holding MyWay+ card

Transport Minister Chris Steel with a new MyWay+ card. Photo: Ian Bushnell.

The system is the result of a $64 million, 10-year deal with tech firm NEC Australia, and Mr McHugh said TC is working “around the clock with NEC” to fix the issues.

NEC vice-president of technology and innovation Ayala Domani said it was “always a big change to implement a system like this” and reiterated that NEC will continue to release updates “every couple of weeks” as new bugs rear their heads.

“So yes, we’re working through some of the teething challenges that have been mentioned … and we will continue to listen to customer feedback, to driver feedback and we will continuously update the system. This is a long-term partnership.”

Mr McHugh said the commitment “at the moment is to make sure the bugs we’ve identified this morning will be corrected before tomorrow”.

READ ALSO Canberra Liberals’ painless AGM sets course for unified future

For now, there remains no financial penalty for not tapping off.

“People who have tapped on but haven’t been able to tap off will only be charged the minimum fare for that trip for that day. We’ve got that in place and we’ll hold that in place until we’re comfortable to release it.”

Earlier in the week, there were also complaints people were struggling to source new MyWay+ cards from outlets like newsagencies.

Mr McHugh says TC is also working to rectify this.

“We’ve had a lot of feedback from the community about not being able to get access to cards,” he said.

“We’re working closely with NEC to make sure all of the retailers are fully stocked and that there are enough cards in the system. But even as of this morning, we sold another 2000 cards before 9 am.”

bus

Up to 18 ticket validators across the ACT were also down this morning. Photo: James Coleman.

Meanwhile, more than $9.5 million remains attached to old MyWay cards, with only $50,000 transferred to new MyWay+ accounts since yesterday.

“We really encourage the community to dig through their drawers, go through their shelves, find their old cards and transfer that money across,” Mr McHugh said.

“We want that money used on our transport system and people using public transport.”

TC will hold onto the money for a minimum period of seven years to allow people to go through the reclaim process, after which “we will make a decision whether to continue holding it.”

An ACT Labor election promise, ‘Fare-free Fridays’, will start as previously announced every Friday beginning 6 December.

Information on MyWay+ card retail locations, as well as transferring credit to a new MyWay+ account, is available on the Transport Canberra website.

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The Adelaide system is far more convenient. You can use credit and debit cards (no need to register them), you can use Metro cards (like Myway cards) and there is no need to tap off. You can add money to the Metro card on line, in various outlets and at transport hubs, The card reader tells you how much it is deducting and if you used a Metro card how much is left on the card. The system costs significantly less than the horrendous Myway+. The ACT Government has been ripped off.

The fare system in place doesn’t have any need for a tap off. It isn’t zone or distance based fares, which would need a tap off to work out the fare for the trip.
The *only* reason they want a tap off is to get the extra data about each trip.

Unlike most people I support the drivers and I’m grateful to have the busses especially as I’m often the only passenger. I don’t drive so I use a lot of busses.
BUT
HOW can there be NO cards on sale on day 2 of the new system??? I went to three outlets across Civic and Woden and was told to come back in a week???
No I won’t use my credit card because I have a concession, no I won’t use my phone because I’m old fashioned and I don’t trust the security. So I’ll just travel for free until they sort it out.
Incompetent I call it

>“We want that money used on our transport system and people using public transport.”
so what did they use the previous $64m for?

I now live in Sydney and applied for a card online for use after I arrive at the railway station.
Still to receive the card, so will not visit the ACT until the card arrives.

It’s ok, just use the bus for free!!! I feel soooo sorry for the drivers, again it’s THEM who have to deal with us frustrated passengers.

“A six-week trial period (during which travel on public transport was free) came to an end this morning …”
Exactly what was the purpose of this trial? I travelled on my regular R6 bus route many times during the period and I didn’t “trail” anything.

It seems like NEC have engaged in ‘system pain point testing’ from yesterday, as obviously the purported trail didn’t identify any “teething challenges”. It’s a common failure of many modern day systems – insufficient priority is given to the system testing phase.

While as the owner/commissioner of the system the ACT government (specifically Steel and ACTION) have to bear the accountability, the ultimate responsibility for delivering a fit for purpose, fully tested and working system rested with NEC.

Seems like a SNAFU by a contracted private company, which, will grab the public purse bucks, and likely get off scot-free.

It wasn’t a trial the old system relied on 3g that was turned off before go live. That means myway plus wasn’t ready and forced out to avoid free transit.

@Henry
Thank you for the clarification.

Your comment proves that someone in ACTION dropped the ball, in not being prepared for the retirement of the 3G network.

I guess that we should be thankful, that the new 4G/5G compatible replacement system, has proven to marginally more effective, than the old system would have been – i.e. at least the new system works for some commuters.

The 3G issue was primarily related to the NXTBUS system. The old system had the fare balance stored on the card itself, so didn’t need to contact anything outside the bus unless there was a top up waiting to download.

The other reason for the shutdown of MyWay was to allow installation of the new hardware, but they didn’t even complete that in the time period given.

How is it possible they implemented credit card readers that can’t accept concession fares?
Why implement a smartphone app without making all the buses wifi capable so phones without a SIM card still work?
How come the bus drivers can’t tell when the reader is saying “Wait for stop” just because the bus is outside the exact range the reader expects for a stop?
Who’s responsible for the MyWay+ sign-up form not asking for a Username, then redirecting to the login form which requires a Username?

It was easy to transfer across old balances for my kids. They got to school on time.

I can’t see a serious problem, there’s always going to be teething problems with new systems. As they’re not trying to land astronauts on the moon it’s just a matter of working through them.

Did they already have the teething issues. The old system failed and they contracted nec with tons of cash to avoid teething issues?

System does not pass basic security. That’s not teething but systematic failure.

What? Teething issues are a fact of life even on projects that spend vast amounts this stuff still happens.

I haven’t been prompted for any information via text or email. The app seems secure.

Most importantly my kids got to school.

The issues reported were way beyond teething issues. Your kids may have got to school OK, but other travellers were confused, had unexpected transactions on their credit cards, were sent on circular journeys or waited for buses that never turned up.

When even the Greens and Public Transport Canberra Association are calling it inept, you know the problems are beyond simple teething issues. Some of the promised functionality of the system won’t be available for months.

Come on BJ, “circular journeys” and buses not turning up. Give it a rest. The timetable wasn’t affected by the myway changes. People are often confused at the beginning of a new system, they generally work it out. Unexpected transactions? Really? The system pretty much works the same as the old MyWay system as far as charging is concerned. And any buses that didn’t turn up, if there were any were likely as a result of the usual things that happen when buses don’t turn up.

It’s fine to be critical of government failures but it’s the hyperbole where you guys lose these debates, at least outside the echo chamber and as far as the general public is concerned because they typically don’t tune into noise.

What are you talking about, even Ben McHugh is now admitting buses have been leaving at the incorrect times and that’s on top of the usual number of buses that simply don’t show up when expected. Can you ever admit a problem with how the ACT government operates?

Ahh Seano, your claims continue to not age well. Ben McHugh on radio apologising to commuters for misleading them on knowing if and when their bus would show up and now the ACT government themselves have asked NEC to review every fare made so far after they found examples of overcharging.

BJ given the BS you’ve already spouted “Circular Journeys” whatever that is…and claims about phantom charges I do not for a second believe that’s what he was saying or apologising for. That’s not a defence of the rollout, it’s a criticism of the hyperbole, the noise actually makes it harder to hold governments to account.

Of course it isn’t the government’s fault.

Expecting the technology to start smoothly in an environment as huge and complex as Canberra, one of the largest metropolises in the world with immensely complex interactions between busses, ferries, trams, light rail and heavy rail is clearly unrealistic.

After all it’s not as though we are a rather average mid-sized city with relatively mundane transport requirements and a reasonably predictable patronage rate. One that should be almost routine for the government project managers and the experienced experts and consultants to get up and running.

Oh wait! I must have been thinking of somewhere else! Perhaps our requirements aren’t that complex and they all just suck!

Well said… 64 mill for WHAT???
They couldn’t even predict how many physical cards they needed!!

The whole project seems sloppy
Transport Canberra has this as their privacy policy:

“The ACT Government will never send you a message by email or text to mobile phones asking for MyWay card payments or other activity. Do not respond if you receive these messages – they are scams to steal your money or personal details. For more information on types of scams visit http://www.scamwatch.gov.au

Must be a scam!

They do mention in the privacy policy about google analytics, however did you know they also have facebook tracking too? Thats not even mentioned in the out of date policy.

The payment system is a mess, if you don’t fill in fields your payments are taken and held in limbo. Despite promise of return or landing in the account, nothing happens. No refund. No balance.

Worst of all is the use of JS library jquery released April 28, 2015
This hasn’t been patched in a long time. This site takes credit cards. Why has no security audit picked this up?

How is this even being used if it fails basic security?

That’s why I load the cards with cash. After the dumpster fire that was Myki in Victoria, seems no-one has learnt any valuable lessons.
As usual, assume any and all data you enter into any website will be stolen, so provide obfuscated details.

Hard if you have kids as they require all the details.

Damien Mullins11:19 pm 27 Nov 24

The tech has been available and in use for literally years in larger cities. How did this go so bad in such a small city?

Tired And Grumpy8:55 pm 27 Nov 24

This has ‘Chris Steel’ written all over it…..

GrumpyGrandpa6:20 pm 27 Nov 24

While they are at it, can they look at their Journey Planner?
The old one pretty much useless. I mostly relied on timetables, and did my own “Journey Planning”.
I fear the new Journey Planner may be no better? I’m pretty “grumpy” about having to nominate my Transport Preference, every time I use it.
It’s painful wading through various Transport options. I just want to catch a bus. I don’t want to nominate whether I want to ride a catch a bus, LR, Motor Bike, Cycling, Walking, or a Taxi? Maybe put the non public transport options elsewhere?
I really don’t care about the CO2 comparisons?
It’s been a few years since I did biology at school, but unless human physiology has changed in the last 50 years, humans emit CO2 when walking, and when exercising with vigour, such as when cycling, even more CO2. Why does the Journey Planner deny human physiology?
On the humorous side, I note that if I just select Bus as a transport option, and exclude Walking, the Journey Planner determines that I’m in a wheelchair. What the….😂.
Please just create a common sense Journey Planner, that works, and cut out all of the political CO2 nonsense.
I just want to catch the bus.

There is an app called AnyTrip.
Swlect the region Canberra/ACT.
If travelling elsewhere, choose either Sydney/NSW; Queensland, New Zealand, Melbourne/Victoria, Northern Territory or Adelaide/SA.
It works on mapping detail with the GPS on that service.
Will show if service on time. late, cancelled, service issues and one can track your journey to know youe stop is coming up.

Another Chris Steel train wreck.

Dopes actually voted for this clown again. 🤣

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