ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Katy Gallagher, today reminded ACTION commuters that the transition period for tagging off buses finishes on 31 December 2011.
“Since the introduction of the new MyWay smartcard ticketing system in March, a transition period has been in place where a passenger is not charged a default fare if they forget to tag off the bus,” the Chief Minister said.
“By tagging off, passengers ensure they pay the cheapest available fare and also provide valuable data to help ACTION plan future bus networks.
“The transition period was extended to the end of the year after originally being scheduled to finish on 30 June 2011. This has allowed extra time for people to become familiar with the tagging on and tagging off process,” the Chief Minister said.
At present there are on average 72,000 trips recorded on weekdays on the MyWay system of which there are approximately 2% of instances where people have been detected not tagging off.
Reminders about tagging off are displayed on board buses and information is also available online, in Canberra Connect Shopfronts, MyWay Centres and recharge agents. A marketing campaign involving TV, radio, print and bus advertising will be undertaken over the next three months to remind passengers of the requirement to tag off.
Messages are also being circulated through schools as the majority of people not tagging off appear to be students.
“The new MyWay ticketing system, with its autoload ‘set and forget’ features, is making bus travel easier and cheaper for the majority of Canberrans. I thank the vast majority of people for embracing the system by getting into the habit of tagging on and off the bus when travelling which is providing invaluable planning data,” the Chief Minister concluded.
For more information on MyWay visit www.transport.act.gov.au or call 13 17 10.
This page was last updated on 26 April 2021
