Smart ticketing goes live across Brisbane public transport

The long-delayed project allowing Brisbane commuters to tap on and off buses using their smartphones and credit cards is now live after a bungled rollout.

Queensland Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg. Picture: Supplied

Brisbane commuters are finally able to tap on and off buses using their smartphones and credit cards after a bungled rollout of the smart ticketing program.

The long-delayed project went live on Translink buses and those operated by Brisbane City Council on Monday.

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg last week told The Courier-Mail some Brisbane City Council bus users would have noticed a change on the ticket readers recently, with equipment progressively switched on in the background as the project was finalised.

“Even though smart ticketing will be installed across the network, those who choose not to, or are unable to use a credit card or smart phone can keep tapping their Go-Card until a replacement reloadable card is available,” he said last week.

“The Brisbane City Council go-live will include all Brisbane Metro vehicles.”

Smart ticketing, which allows commuters to tap on and off public transport using credit and debit cards and mobile devices, has been available on the Gold Coast light rail system since 2020 and on trains as part of a staged rollout since mid-2022.

The project has been marred by delays and cost blowouts.

Brisbane Metro, Rochedale. Picture: Liam Kidston

In January it was revealed the project would now cost $431m and run until December 2027—an increase on the original $371m cost and planned four year delivery when first announced in mid-2018.

Commuters were initially 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 was instead “on track for completion” in the first months of 2025.

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.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said work would continue over the weekend to iron out “glitches’’ already identified in the system including the inability to pay for two trips with the same device and the need to tap on and off with the same device.

He said he was hopeful it would be ready to go on Monday.

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.

Originally published as Smart ticketing goes live across Brisbane public transport