National Smart Transport Ticket Needed

While Adam Carey's article on the use of motor vehicle electronic toll tags on public transport was an April fools day joke, the idea has some merit ("E-Tags the go as myki take its toll, lobby group says", The Age, 1 April 2013). A traveler from NSW cannot use their MYKI card interstate, but a motorist can use their e-tag on a toll road interstate. This is not due to an inherent technical incompatibility between the smart card technologies, they all use the same standards. State governments have chosen to block the use of smart tickets interstate to protect their own revenue, inconveniencing the traveling public and increasing cost. If state governments wished them to do so, travelers could use their MYKI from Melbourne interchangeably with Translink go card Brisbane, SmartRider Perth, Metrocard Adelaide, and the future Opal card Sydney.

 The federal government could provide a forum to plan this interchange. The encourage states to cooperate, the federal government could threaten to use its banking powers to open up transport payments to all financial institutions. The contact-less smart cards issued by Australian banks are compatible with the state's ticketing systems and the federal government could require the states to accept these cards under federal banking legislation. Faced with ticketing competition from all banks, states are likely to be willing to cooperate as a second best option.

Deficiencies in Accounting for MyWay Canberra Bus Tickets

Several weeks ago I sent Canbeera's government owned ACTION bus company two old magnetic stripe tickets to have the usnused portion credited to my new "My Way" smart card bus ticket. Today I received an email from the MyWay Administration office saying this has been done. I used the "check your balance" page to check this had been done (which it had). But curiously the email was vague about when the transaction had happened, saying "Beetween the 20th - 24th". This did not match the date reported by the online system, which was 02/06/2011. The funds appear to be unaccounted for, over a period of a week.

Also the misspelling of "Beetween" in what must be an email sent out to thousands of people is of concern. This suggests that the MyWay system has not been implemented with the care needed for a system handling millions of dollars.

Canberra Bus Smart Card Ticket System

Contact-less card readers have stared to be installed on Canberra buses, for the "MyWay" smart card system, to be commenced this year. The system was announced by the ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, last year ("Smart start to new ACTION ticketing system"). The Canberra "ACTION" bus fleet is small and a flat fare structure is being retained, making this a relatively simple installation. So it is likely the problems which have plagued the Sydney and Melbourne smart ticket systems can be avoided.

One potential problem is that passengers will be required to "tag-off" the buses: that is swipe the card at the end of the journey as well as at the begining. As the fare is not distance or time based, there is no need for the passenger to swipe when they get off to calculate the fare. Presumably this is for the convenience of the bus operator to measure patronage. It will be interesting to see how may people actually do this and what problems it causes. The Victorian Government has had to abandon "tag-off" for short tram journeys due to the congestion problems it caused.

Chief Minister and Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Jon Stanhope, today announced Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd would install ACTION's new $8 million smartcard ticketing system.

Mr Stanhope said the contract was awarded after an exhaustive tender and evaluation process which confirmed Downer EDI represented the best value system for Canberra' s bus service.

The new ticketing system, due to commence in the second half of 2010, is modelled on Perth's successful SmartRider system, which was also implemented by Downer EDI.

"Canberrans can look forward to a new ticketing system that is fast, easy and flexible," Mr Stanhope said. "It will offer bus users a reusable and rechargeable card for travel on all ACTION buses.

"Bus users will be able to recharge their smartcard over the internet, phone or at other card facilities across the ACT. A one-use ticket will also be available for casual users and tourists.

"Bus users will be required to tag-on and tag-off buses, which will significantly improve ACTION's capacity to monitor passenger trends and make adjustments to meet changes in demand.

"The new smart card system is an important part of the ACT Government's investment in developing a more efficient and user-friendly bus network.

"I look forward to working with Downer Engineering as we roll-out the smartcard ticketing system across the ACTION network," Mr Stanhope said.

The smartcard uses a microchip that is picked up by a reader without taking it out of a wallet or purse.

The new ticketing system will retain the current flat fares structure. ...

From: Smart start to new ACTION ticketing system, ACT Gvernment, 08/07/2009

Sydney Electronic Ticketing System Selected

According to media reports, the Pearl Consortium, made up of Downer EDI, Commonwealth Bank and Cubic Transportation Systems has won the Sydney electronic transport ticketing system. Key to the consortium is Cubic_Transportation_Systems which has provided electronic ticket systems to large city transport systems, including the Oyster Card for London Underground. Downer EDI is an engineering company (the EDI does not stand for "Electronic Data Interchange"). The Commonwealth Bank has experience with MasterCard PayPass and Visa payWave these are contactless payment cards. These and similar cards are now being distributed widely to bank customers. However, it unclear if the NSW will permit their use for travel payments.

Improving Australian Public Transport

Having used efficient public transport in Greece and Turkey, it is disappointing to get back to Australia and find state governments continuing to fail to provide it here. The latest with problems is the Victorian Government's myki electronic ticketing system roll-out (following scrapping of the NSW system). In contrast, Istanbul has a simple and effective electronic system which works on trains, trams, metro and ferries.