Ticket costs hit $31.5m

Blowout in public transport system upgrade

THE promised overhaul of Tasmania’s “antiquated” public transport ticket system has blown out by $24m.

The state government’s plan for a common ticketing system was initially budgeted at $7.5m but has since hit $31.5m, after five years of delays, setbacks and false starts.

The upgrades would bring Tasmania’s outdated ticketing system in line with the mainland and allow faster, multimodal trips between different forms of transport. Similar to Melbourne’s Myki or Sydney’s

Opal card, passengers could tap on and off Metro services, private buses and ferries to chain them together as one journey.

The new ticket system was supposed to be finished last year, but the project continues to stall, with no firm due date on the horizon.

The blowout was brought up in budget estimates by Labor’s David O’Byrne, who said the whole affair was a “shambles” from start to finish.

Mr O’Byrne said it was another government project beset by blowouts, delays, stalls and setbacks.

“It appears as though this project is stuck in the underground bus mall,” he said.

“This is an extraordinary admission of failure from this minister and this government. Meanwhile, Metro, private companies, and Derwent Ferry commuters are stuck with one of the worst ticketing systems in the country.”

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson said Metro and State Growth were making progress towards an integrated ticketing system solution.

Mr Ferguson said they were looking at mainland providers to figure out a solution.

“The government has made an in-principle decision to work with another jurisdiction and its ticketing provider, to see if such an approach can deliver a cost-effective solution for Tasmania, while reducing the risks associated with delivering such a complex and expensive project,” he said.

“This has all been explained to Mr O’Byrne at the recent budget estimates hearings. The only question remains is why Mr O’Byrne didn’t match this commitment at the last election? If Labor had been elected then the project would have ceased.”

But Mr O’Byrne said Labor did adopt the budget costings of the common ticketing system in its 2020-21 budget reply.

When the ticket system is complete, commuters will be able to pay using their phones, credit cards, smart watches and other devices and keep tabs on their use.

Rail Tram and Bus Union secretary Ric Bean said the current ticketing technology was behind the rest of Australia. Mr Bean said he was “gobsmacked” to see how much this project now cost, but noted this was not the first time a Tasmanian government project had blown its budget.