ACT gov asks NEC to build smart transit ticket system

The ACT government is set to roll out a new cashless transport ticketing system called MyWay+, and has commissioned NEC to build it.

Minister for transport Chris Steel said the system would allow commuters to tap on or off with debit and credit cards or devices, "in addition to the traditional travel card or paper ticket."

It will also be capable of "automated cheapest fare calculation when using any of the supported fare methods, including concession registration on all supported fare media."

In addition, the government will establish a "new real-time passenger information system and journey planner" that will be available for download from mobile app stores.

The government said that NEC will "deliver the system from its Canberra-based facilities" and "use a local ACT team to operate and maintain the system."

"This will include undertaking a design and development process over the next 12 months to ensure the new system, MyWay+, is specifically customised for the Canberra market," Steel said.

There will be a series of implementation milestones set out in the contract with NEC, and a staged transition process to the new system is anticipated.

The project will include "installation and commissioning of equipment to support the new ticketing system, including over 1000 new validators onboard Transport Canberra buses and on light rail platforms, and around 25 ticket vending machines across the public transport network," Steel said.

In the future, the territory government wants to be able to integrate the transit ticketing system with "cross-jurisdictional services such as Queanbeyan and surrounding NSW."

It did not put a timeline on this expansion.

The cost of providing and deploying the next generation solution is yet to be posted on Canberra’s public contract site. 

NEC came out on top of a “two-stage tender process” to win the gig, which was first advertised in August 2021.

The vendor's general manager critical infrastructure, smart transport and IoT Richard Dugga said that the next generation ticketing system would be built on NEC’s “smart mobility platform.”