The ACT’s MyWay smartcard has passed its first test, and now rolls out to Canberra’s populace starting Monday
March 4, 2011
The MyWay smartcard ticketing system will be available to all Canberra commuters using Action buses from Monday.
ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Transport Jon Stanhope says the staged rollout to seniors over the past two weeks had gone well with over 4,500 senior citizens getting on board with MyWay smartcards.
“It’s time for the general community to transfer over to the MyWay cards,” Stanhope says.
The ACT Government claims the reusable MyWay cards will make bus travel cheaper for the majority of patrons and provide important data in helping to plan Canberra’s bus-only transport mode.
“The requirement for people to tag on and off buses will not only provide important information on travel patterns but also ensure customers are charged the cheapest available fare,” Stanhope says.
“For instance, journeys taken during off-peak periods will automatically be charged at off-peak rates.”
He says a daily fare cap will be in place for both concession and adult ticket holders, while a monthly cap of 36 paid trips will also mean that any trips taken over the capped amount during the calendar month will be free if people tag on and off.
MyWay cards can be recharged via direct debit auto-load or BPAY saving five percent on bus travel, Stanhope says.
Cash fares will still be available on Action buses during a transition period which ends on Monday 11 April.
Any pre-existing magnetic strip tickets can also be used until the end of the transition period but will be withdrawn from sale in March.
Stanhope says that while implementation of major system such as MyWay would have some teething issues, the ACT Government had undertaken thorough testing over the last six months followed by a gradual rollout to resolve any problems with the system.