Political pain: A confident Transport Minister Chris Steel with the new MyWay+ travel card before the system went live. Photos: Ian Bushnell.
There are always a few issues with the introduction of new software and a bedding-down period, but it seems the ACT Government and its Myway+ provider, NEC, were at odds from the start over what the new public transport ticketing system was going to be able to deliver and when.
It has earlier been reported that NEC wanted a slower, more incremental switchover, but the report from IT consultant Projects Assured ahead of the November 2024 launch shows just how far apart the parties were and how ill-prepared Transport Canberra was.
The government engaged Projects Assured in September to assess how ready MyWay+ was to be rolled out.
It found products were below par, a lack of vital supporting documentation or user guides, that not all buses would have the new system installed, a need for manual fixes instead of full capability and a ‘don’t rock the boat mentality’ meaning issues went unresolved.
The consultant also warned that work was behind schedule, fare collection could be disrupted, and customer experience staff were unprepared to deal with the potential number of complaints from the travelling public.
Much of this came to pass.
The ACT is now more than six months on from the launch, and while many of the issues first encountered by passengers have been resolved, important parts of the $64 million, 10-year contract remain unfulfilled, and that is unsatisfactory.
The main virtue of the new system is working; that is, being able to pay using a bank or credit card as well as a MyWay+ card, but the app, QR codes and the promised real-time journey planner are still playing up.
An Assembly inquiry is underway to get to the bottom of what went wrong.
On the evidence so far, plenty.
It is understandable that, after such a long wait for a modern, flexible payment system, the government would want to deliver on its promise, but the Projects Assured report shows there were giant red flags before the launch, and that not all of its recommendations were implemented before the go-live.
That there was a tendency to be positive to a fault and not have robust conversations about the real situation is disturbing, as well as NEC and Transport Canberra having different expectations.
The idea that the system could only be tested when thousands of people were actually using it also frays in the light of the pre-launch warnings.
The inquiry will come to its own conclusions, but it seems the MyWay+ switchover was a classic case of overpromising and underdelivering.
The actual launch may not have been able to be delayed much longer due to the shutdown of the 3G technology, but did it need to offer from the start all the bells and whistles the government wanted?
Indeed, the Public Transport Association believes MyWay+ did not need to have so many features.
However, that is what we paid for, that is what NEC committed to, and that’s what they should deliver. It’s a 10-year contract so NEC should get it right eventually.
Will anybody be held accountable? In answer to a reporter’s question along these lines, Chief Minister Andrew Barr responded rhetorically, Are you asking me to sack people?
That’s not going to happen.
But the government and the minister responsible, Chris Steel, have had to wear political pain they could have avoided if the project had been less ambitious from the start and the warnings taken on board before the fateful decision to launch.
They owe the travelling public and taxpayers an apology, and the resolve to fix MyWay+.
