Canberra commuters can start enjoying free public transport rides from September 20 as Transport Canberra switches over the exisiting ticketing system to MyWay+.
The switch-over is expected to take six weeks, in which bus and light rail services will continue to operate as per the scheduled timetable and frequency.
“Over the last few months significant progress has occurred in the design, development and testing of the new MyWay+ system,” transport minister Chris Steel says.
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“We are now at the exciting point where system installation can commence. This includes removing the existing MyWay equipment on board buses and installing the new MyWay+ validators both in buses and along the light rail alignment.
“System testing will also take place with over 200 Canberrans providing feedback on the new system and its journey planning functionality.
From September 20, the current MyWay and NXTBUS real time systems will no longer be available. This includes on board buses at bus stops and stations as well as the SMS service, however timetable information is available online and at major stops and interchanges.
Bus services will continue to operate to the scheduled timetable. Where possible, static timetable information be available at bus stations.
Light rail will continue to operate to the scheduled frequency. Next stop information will still be available for light rail (onboard and at stops).
“A fare free travel period has been planned as part of a ‘hard switchover’ to the new MyWay+ system. We made this decision early on to avoid confusion for the public of having two systems in different states of commissioning and decommissioning,” Steel says.
“This fare free travel period will provide the community time to prepare for the change and encourage new users to try bus and light rail travel as part of their daily commute.”
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