WA public transport system to receive long-awaited payment upgrade

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Western Australia's public transport system is on the cusp of a long-awaited upgrade of how passengers pay for their tickets. But not everyone will benefit just yet, and there are already calls to go further.

Transcript

00:00Mark McGowan was still premier when Labor promised to upgrade Western Australia's

00:07smart rider system.

00:12Fast forward and the project is almost done.

00:16Passengers will be able to use phones, smart watches and credit and debit cards to tag on

00:21to public transport from Monday December 8.

00:24Yes of course I will use it, yes. I'm so sick of using my card all the time.

00:27It's going to be just like easy, you just tap it and go and yeah definitely it's going to help a lot.

00:32The opposition isn't quite as warm on the project which has come in late and over budget.

00:37They've blamed Covid, they've blamed the war in Ukraine and now we have a system that's been announced today

00:43and it's costing people more to use.

00:45Passengers will be charged the full cash fare if they're using their phones or cards to tag on.

00:50You'll still need a smart rider if you've got a concession or to access any discounts.

00:55Oh wait, actually I'd like to save money so I'd probably just keep using my card then.

01:01Well there's tourists who may be here for one or two days and won't go and get themselves a smart rider, fair enough.

01:06And then it's also that incidental use and that might be once a week or if you're going out.

01:14What we've got in the UK is that's what we do so it would be really good.

01:17The Greens are on board and now want the Government to look for other ways to improve patronage like free transit zones.

01:24At the moment our fares only contribute I think now less than 20% of the total cost of running our public transport system.

01:32We might as well just make it cheaper enough where more people use it.

01:35They'd also like to see the ability to add smart riders to phones which the Government says it's working on.

01:42It won't even if they do.

01:43Let's drink it –

01:46We might as well then, ok?

01:48However close to people what time to do in the UK we think the ones have some that are dangerous.

01:51We might as well such, all these occasions have no big sauces, right?

01:54So we're going to celebrate stepping over to the UShhhern in 1000-$1ñ.

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