Gerry gets involved in Integrated Ticketing

Some more new developments in the Snapper/Integrated ticketing saga emerged yesterday. The Herald reports:

Auckland’s main bus operator could lose at least $70 million in annual operating subsidies if it fails by November to install machines capable of reading new electronic transport tickets.

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee said last night that although there was no suggestion yet that NZ Bus would miss that deadline, the firm and its sister company, Snapper Services, would know the consequences of being in breach of contract by failing to meet it.

Asked what those consequences would be, he told the Herald: “They’re off the run.”

And from later in the article:

Mr Brownlee said he was “quite happy” there was a process in place to achieve integrated ticketing “and all the contracted parties just need to understand that we’re not backing away from that”.

Asked what would happen if NZ Bus refused to replace its existing machine readers with equipment compatible with the final system, he said: “They will be in breach of their contract and we will look at getting someone else to pick those contracts up.”

While this blog is often very critical of the government and it’s policies we are also prepared to give credit when it is due and in this case it is good to see Gerry publicly affirming the consequences if the latest deadlines aren’t met. Hopefully it is something that he will keep and eye on to ensure that everything happens as promised. There were also a few comments from Phil Twyford and Mike Lee about the issue:

Mr Brownlee said he could not confirm a claim by Labour transport spokesman Phil Twyford that National put Auckland in a difficult situation by pushing for Snapper’s card to be introduced to the NZ Bus fleet, as he was not minister at the time.

But Auckland Council transport chairman Mike Lee said Infratil lobbied the Government to change specifications to allow the card to be introduced ahead of the wider scheme.

He said that made it the Government’s responsibility to “hold the line” and ensure a successful roll-out of an integrated transport ticket.

I actually think there may be an element of trying to score political points here. As I mentioned in a comment on the post the other day, we do know that Snapper lobbied the government after they lost the tender but the outcome of it was that the issue was handed over to the NZTA to reinvestigate the options. The outcome of that investigation was that the NZTA not only agreed that Thales had the best offer but that they would modify the contract and set up the system so that it could be used nationally. I am also aware that the ticketing system that NZ Bus had before Snapper was falling apart very quickly as it was very old and getting harder and harder to maintain. It needed to be replaced and while I won’t rule out political interference, I kind of wonder if Phil and Mike are blurring some of the events to their own advantage.

There is of course now going to be a 6 month wait before we find out if Snapper has met their targets. Perhaps during that time AT could start working on getting integrated fares sorted out so we don’t have to wait so long for that to happen, it is after all critical for our new bus network.

A note to all readers, this post is not to become a place to continue on the arguments from the other day around about the merits or otherwise of Snapper. Please keep the discussion limited to the content of this post.

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