Charles Marpaung is petitioning to make the MyWay+ more functional and accessible for all Canberrans. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
A university student has challenged the ACT Government to step up and make MyWay+ more accessible for students, people with disabilities and the elderly, as an inquiry into the troubled system is delayed.
Charles Marpaung is a 19-year-old ANU student who regularly catches public buses. He’s noticed in the 200-plus days since the MyWay+ system was first rolled out that its functionality is severely lacking.
“I caught the bus two times [the other morning] and the tap on and off didn’t work, the audiovisual displays were frozen, the GPS driver and timing tracking wasn’t working, the QR code wasn’t working,” he said.
“My vision is to get into the Transport Minister Chris Steel’s ear and get the message to him and the government that the community want change.
“We’re fed up with this dysfunctional system.”
Mr Marpaung’s petition labelled the MyWay+ system as “discriminatory and non-functional”, stating it posed challenges for people with an auditory or visual disability, left people using a wheelchair unable to find out if an approaching bus is accessible and made it difficult for the elderly and students without debit or credit cards to register their concessions.
He said he felt a young voice was missing from the conversations about MyWay+ issues and he wanted to spark change.
“I feel it’s a basic right to look out for those in the community who may need more help … it’s just the right thing to do,” Mr Marpaung said.
“Everyone has a right to access public transport and we’re not doing a good job.”
Mr Marpaung argued the need to hold a credit/debit card and to be able to navigate the app to register if you’re a concession holder or student was making public transport inaccessible.
“Commuters struggle each day to scan their QR code on the bus and lack a live update of their card balance when tapping on and off buses, which leads to delays and confusion,” his petition stated.
“The necessity to register cards for concessions and scarcity of MyWay+ vendors and machines at interchanges, leads to difficulties for tourists and students.
“The accessibility of MyWay+ for students is alarming, as some students do not have debit or credit cards and moreover, primary and secondary school students pay more than concession and around the same as tertiary students.”
Mr Marpaung said he’s aware of the inquiry into the system and had been advised by several MLAs he’d contacted to hold off on his petition until its report was handed down, which was due on Thursday (26 June).
However, its chair Jo Clay announced a further public hearing had now been scheduled for 3 July and the amount of evidence and submissions received meant the report would be delayed.
“A report will be presented to the Assembly in due course,” she said.
Given the uncertain timeline, Mr Marpaung’s glad he didn’t hold off.
“I could have been waiting one month, two months, six months, who knows when I could have submitted it,” he said.
The petition’s sponsored by ACT Greens transport spokesperson Andrew Braddock, who hoped it would compel the government to ensure MyWay+ was useable and accessible for all Canberrans as soon as possible.
“I hope the petition will draw attention to what system improvements Canberrans want to see to MyWay+ going forward,” he said.
“To ensure we have an accessible and useable system for all including seniors and Canberrans with a disability. A system that provides real time data to allow Canberra to know when their bus will arrive.”
An accessibility audit of the MyWay+ system is being conducted by Get Skilled Access, taking into account the experience of people with physical, sensory and cognitive accessibility requirements.
A Transport Canberra spokesperson said many improvements had been made since the system went live.
“[These] include changes to the MyWay+ customer portal and mobile app to improve web accessibility, usability and readability,” the spokesperson said.
“The volume of the audio confirmation noise for a successful tap on/off on validators has been increased, updates to content and readability of information for the on-board Passenger Information Displays in response to community feedback and the roll-out of on-board audio announcements to provide notifications of the upcoming bus stops.
“The government is awaiting the findings of the inquiry’s report and will respond in line with assembly standing orders.”
