[Melb] Assuring travellers a ticket to ride The Age editorial 12 June 2001

["david lindstrom" <d_lindstrom@bigpond.com>]

Assuring travellers a ticket to ride

Tuesday 12 June 2001

At some point in the life of a new government, the excuse that a
problem is the fault of its predecessor reaches its use-by date.
The Bracks Government has now reached that point regarding the
continuing shemozzle that is Melbourne's public transport
ticketing system. Transport Minister Peter Batchelor is
understandably annoyed at having to deal with the failings of
Kennett government initiatives of which he had been highly
critical while in opposition, but deal with them he must.

It is true that in this case Mr Batchelor's power to remedy the
problems has been limited by his predecessor's actions; the
minister faces a mainly privatised transport system in which he
cannot call all the shots. But there must be action on the
serious flaws discovered by a recent audit of the ticket system,
which reported that 27 per cent of machines at railway stations
are malfunctioning, machines are frequently vandalised and
repairs are slow. The audit found that commuters' expectations
are not being met and that the contract with OneLink, which
provided and maintains the machines, emphasises equipment
standards and compliance rather than service. A frustrated Mr
Batchelor this week complained that the government was helpless
because it was up to OneLink and the private operators of
suburban trains to provide a better service. While he did
promise that the government would try to work with operators to
win a better deal, he warned that negotiations might take 12
months.

The OneLink system has already devoured more time and money than
taxpayers and commuters could be expected to wear with
equanimity. It cost $300 million to install (late), and in 1999
the vandalising of 200 ticket machines cost taxpayers more than
$3 million in repairs and another $3.4 million for the salaries
of security guards. Last year OneLink presented the Bracks
Government with a $270 million claim for alleged specification
changes by the Kennett government, a payment that would almost d
ouble the contracted cost of installing the system.

Mr Batchelor must start cutting heads off this Hydra. The
machines that are out of order should be fixed, quickly, even if
that must happen at taxpayers' expense. Ways must be found to
make ticket machines more vandal-proof to cut down not just on
the expense involved in repairs and lost revenue, but on the
inconvenience to commuters. Most importantly, the government
must pressure operators to renegotiate contracts so that they
include stringent standards for service and maintenance, as well
as fines for failing to meet such targets. Many of the world's
major cities function well with automatic ticket systems; it is
time Melbourne became one of them.



--
Regards,
David Lindstrom
D_Lindstrom@bigpond.com