Transport Minister Chris Steel was all smiles when MyWay+ was rolled out almost two years ago. Photos: Ian Bushnell.
The Transport Minister has admitted the government should have “sought further assurance” and listened more closely to stakeholders before MyWay+ was rolled out.
Chris Steel made these admissions as the government accepted all recommendations from the committee inquiry report into the ticketing system, which includes inviting the Auditor-General to conduct its own investigation into the project.
The inquiry made a series of damning findings, including that MyWay+ was “clearly not ready for launch”, “did not work properly”, and undertook “meaningless” community testing.
Mr Steel acknowledged on Thursday (26 February) that the transition to MyWay+ was not “smooth” and a range of issues “negatively impacted” passengers.
“Defining a minimum viable product sooner, rather than delivering every single thing that people expected of a new ticketing system all at once, would have been a better approach,” he said.
“Concerns by other parties should have been examined further and given additional weight when considered against the advice of [project designer] NEC Australia that MyWay+ was ready to launch on 27 November 2024.
“The government acknowledges that the community-based testing program did not meet expectations, particularly where concerns raised did not result in changes to the system prior to launch.”
When asked by Region how the community and stakeholders could trust that their feedback would be heard by the government, given the weight placed on NEC’s opinion in this case, Mr Steel said the government acknowledged it should have listened better.
“With the benefit of hindsight, there could have been improvements to the way that the project launch occurred and assurance should have been sought, in relation to a range of different deliverables under the contract and performance. Ready-to-go-live [was] one of those elements [where] we should have sought independent assurance,” he said.
“Clearly that advice was not right, but we as a government, as Transport Canberra, [should have] sought further assurance.”
Mr Steel also took the opportunity to update the community on future improvements to the system.
Most accessibility issues have been resolved, and validators are now working 99.18 per cent of the time.
Future enhancements being investigated include alternative payment options to the QR code, including a Digital MyWay+ card, and the provision of passenger information displays at interchanges.
NEC and Transport Canberra have to work together for the next 10 years, as outlined in the project contract.
When asked by Region whether trust in the company had been broken, Transport Canberra executive group manager Jeremy Smith said they continued to work collaboratively.
“There is a free-flowing communication around improvements and challenges with the system, so the trust certainly isn’t gone,” he said.
“NEC have acknowledged the challenges around the system … they recognise the challenges that both Transport Canberra and our Transport Minister have faced around the system, have acknowledged that, and are working positively with us.”
The Public Transport Association of Canberra welcomed the government’s response, stating it presented a “significant shift” in the way projects are managed and delivered.
“PTCBR has long been concerned about what we perceive as a lack of rigour and coherence in how Transport Canberra communicates with the general public, and the introduction of MyWay+ brought many of these issues into sharp relief,” chair Amy Jelacic said.
“We also note that public transport agencies typically present a set of service commitments to the general public, and we would like to see the same from Transport Canberra.”
Dr Jelacic said the group was particularly glad that two public transport features – MyWay+ card balances being displayed on validators and passenger information displays at interchanges – were being pursued by the government, and that there had been many improvements since the system went live.
But she cautioned the “tail must not wag the dog” when it came to public transport decisions and operations.
“The ACT Government must have a clear picture of the type of public transport system it wants and needs to operate, and then consider options for how to achieve it,” Dr Jelacic said.
“In the case of MyWay+, we have now seen what happens when a seemingly sophisticated, ‘hi-tech’ solution is adopted that does not align with community needs or expectations and does not contribute to offering a best-practice public transport system.”
Canberra Liberals leader and Shadow Transport Minister Mark Parton said the decision to refer the system to the Auditor-General for a formal examination was the right one.
“The launch of MyWay+ was a complete fiasco and, more than a year on, the system is still not fully functional,” he said.
“Even Transport Minister Chris Steel now accepts that independent scrutiny is needed into how this occurred on his watch.”
However, he’s still not satisfied that the government has gone far enough in regaining the public’s trust.
“Serving as a government minister requires the highest standards of competence and public trust,” Mr Parton said.
“It is disappointing that Minister Steel has still not taken responsibility by stepping aside.”
