Today, a damning independent report undertaken in the month before MyWay+ went live. The report revealed that the Transport Minister, Chris Steel, was advised that the system was 'sub-optimal', the ACT Government was avoiding robust conversations with the contractor, and there was a lack of planning for the transition.
"This report reveals shocking evidence that Minister Steel let the MyWay+ go live - without question, despite extensive warnings about the system's issues," said Andrew Braddock, ACT Greens Spokesperson for Transport.
"The report highlights that there was 'avoidance of robust conversations' between Transport Canberra and NEC due to the desire to maintain positive working relationships. Minister Steel chose his relationship with a consultant over the basic rights of Canberrans to access public transport in their city.
"Despite promises to bring Canberra's public transport network into the future with 'seamless' experience and 'world-class' capability, NEC and Transport Canberra agreed to reduce the functionality of the system ahead of launch and even described the system as a 'minimum viable product'.
"It is insulting that our Transport Minister has such low standards for public transport in our city. Canberrans deserve the world-class system that they were promised.
"Since launch, validators have not worked, senior Canberrans and those with a disability have been locked out from the system, and Canberrans' personal and payment information has been put at risk to hackers. There is nothing seamless or world-class about an inaccessible and insecure transport system.
"While we are still awaiting the Assembly Committee findings, this report is incredibly damning and supports the evidence that has been gradually coming to light through the Committee Hearing process.
"What more do we need to find out before Minister Steel apologises to Canberrans for this botched MyWay+ rollout and before he addresses the issues that continue to plague commuters?" said Mr Braddock.
