$60m blowout: Extent of Qld’s smart ticketing bungle revealed

It has been revealed the bungled rollout of Queensland’s smart ticketing program will cost taxpayers $60m more than expected and force commuters to use an ageing system for longer, with both Labor and the LNP blaming each other.

The bungled rollout will cost the government tens of millions more.

The bungled rollout of Queensland’s smart ticketing program will cost taxpayers $60m more than expected and force commuters to use an ageing system for longer, the state government has revealed.

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg will on Monday reveal the full smart ticketing program will now have to run until December 2027 as delays to the program has meant more time is needed to test the software.

The time extension is also needed to deliver a replacement to the Go Card — particularly for those with concessions like students and seniors — before the system can be retired.

It means TransLink will need to run two systems for years to come, in a hit to efficiency.

TransLink’s smart ticketing program, allowing commuters to tap on and off public transport using credit and debit cards and mobile devices, was announced in mid-2018 with the promise of being delivered in four years at an original cost of $371m.

Minister for Transport and Main Roads Brent Mickelberg. Picture: Liam Kidston

It will now cost about $431m according to the state government, and run until December 2027.

Commuters were told they would be able to tap on and off public buses by the end of 2024, but the rollout in Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast has not yet happened and is “on track for completion over the next few months”.

Mr Mickelberg slammed the former government for the delay and cost blowout.

“Commuters who choose not to use, or don’t have access to a credit card will need to hold onto their old Go-Cards longer due to system delays under the former Labor Government,” he said.

Opposition leader Steven Miles on Monday blamed the state government for the $60m bungle, saying “it has happened under their watch”.

“We were very clear and upfront very close to the end of our term about the current advice we had about the cost and timeframes for smart ticketing,” Mr Miles said.

“If they have blown out since then, then that is under the new Transport Minister, and that is exactly the kind of thing David Crisafulli said wouldn’t happen under his government.

“He said that time delays and cost escalations were unique to us and that they would stop now, well, they haven’t stopped.

“They keep continuing, and there’s only so long that they’ll be able to get away with blaming us for them.

“They’re the government, now it’s time for them to start taking some responsibility and start living up to the promises that they made, including David Crisafulli’s promise that his ministers could magically keep projects to their originally announced budgets and timeframes.”

An extra $22.8m was added to the original $371m smart ticketing rollout budget in February 2024, with the state government now confirming an extra $35m to $40m would be needed cover labour resourcing costs for the project until its completion in 2027.

Former transport minister Bart Mellish, in 2024, met with contractor CUBIC — a global giant of smart ticketing — to express his “disappointment in the delays” and “discussed the need for them to complete the project to the timelines committed to”.

But the state government at the time conceded part of the problem has been the way the network is set up — including a legacy Go-Card system, 13 bus operators in the southeast, Brisbane City Council’s ferries and Southern Moreton Bay Island ferries.

Covid-19 closures and a global microchip shortage were also noted as factors behind the delays and cost increase.