Ticket data blamed for poor bus figures

[Barry Drive]

From the Canberra Times (author Graham Downie):
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/ticket-data-blamed-for-poor-bus-figures/1927858.aspx

Canberra's ACTION bus network has recorded a 6-8 per cent drop in patronage but the Government blames it on a failing ticketing system and not on fewer passengers.
Tom Elliott of Territory and Municipal Services said the July data showed ''a pretty ugly story'' but he did not believe fewer people were travelling on buses. ''My view is it is all about the ticketing system,'' he said.

Up to 12 buses a day were leaving depots without working ticket machines. This meant ACTION was losing passenger data and revenue.

The patronage data comes less than a week after ACT Auditor- General Tu Pham issued a scathing report on ACTION's performance, finding that it put public and passenger safety at risk.

The report was issued last Thursday and on Friday 36 ACTION bus runs did not operate due to driver shortages. A TAMS spokesman said 98.8 per cent of services had still run.

The loss of revenue brought about by the faulty ticket machines was estimated earlier this year at about $500,000.

Mr Elliott said the loss of revenue and passenger data would continue for at least another five months until the ticketing system was replaced with an $8 million ticketing system.

It was due for introduction in July but Mr Elliott said its first trial would begin only this week on about 12 buses. A trial involving members of the public was scheduled for October. The current ticketing system has been in use since 1995.

''These things should be replaced every 10 years,'' Mr Elliott said. He did not know how much patronage was being lost, ''Because I can't rely on the ticketing system to tell me how much we are recording.''

From late November the new system would go live with a control group, probably seniors and a couple of schools. By then all buses would have to be fitted with the new ticketing equipment.

The target for general public use was early January. This would allow the system to be tested during the holiday period. The full load on the system would occur in February with the return of schools.

There was nothing at present to indicate the system would not work properly.


And from the ABC -
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/31/2998150.htm?site=canberra

An ageing ticketing system is being blamed for poor patronage figures on Canberra buses.

Bus patronage fell 6 - 8 per cent last month according to the latest ACTION data.

But Tom Elliott from Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) says it is not because fewer people are catching buses.

He says up to a dozen buses have been operating without working ticket machines making the figures inaccurate.

"It's not a good figure but we can attribute it to the old ticketing system and the fact that we can't keep supply with old equipment that's working with the new fleet as it grows," he said.

A new ticketing system was due to be up and running last month.

"About 12 months ago, as we started getting into the first phase of implementation and trialing, we decided to put in an extra step in the system testing approach," Mr Elliott said.

"So the way we are implementing now will be incremental as oppose to a full public deployment.

"We're taking a measured approach to that over the next three months."

Up to 20 buses will start trialing the new system next week.

Mr Elliott says they are also trying to source spare parts to repair the existing system and keep it operating until December.

He admits the delay in implementing the new system is costing the network hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

Klaus Pinkas from the Transport Workers Union agrees setting up a new ticketing system is complex.

"I don't have a problem with the actual time it's taking. But I do have a problem with the lack of foresight in organising modules for the current system," he said.

"It was known that things were going to go bad over a period of time and things were going to break down.

"So there is a problem there."

'Not good enough'

Opposition transport spokesman Alistair Coe says ACTION's excuses are not good enough.

"I don't think it's acceptable to have every excuse under the sun as to why one of the simplest ticketing systems in the country can't be installed," he said.

"There's a difference between being prudent and being slow.

"When it comes down to it, what we're seeing at the moment is delay after delay for something that should have been installed years ago."

Report action

The new bus figures come less than a week after ACT auditor-general Tu Pham issued a critical report exposing a slew of problems within ACTION.

She found ACTION management failed to adhere to certain laws, did not follow up complaints against drivers and did not report accidents involving ACTION buses.

Mr Elliott says ACTION has given a draft plan to implement the recommendations to Transport Minister Jon Stanhope.

"We're just waiting for him to assess some of the detail of that," he said.