Conduent wins 15-year deal to overhaul Victoria’s ticketing system

Global ticketing solutions developer, Conduent Business Services, has been awarded a 15-year contract to operate and redevelop Victoria’s public transport ticketing system, myki.

Victoria’s Minister for Public Transport, Ben Carroll, confirmed there would be no immediate changes to the current system, adding that new features would be progressively added to enable Victorians to easily transition to the new system.

Under the terms of the deal, and following trials commencing next year, improvements would be made to existing payment options, enabling public transportation users to pay for trips using their credit or debit card or with a digital wallet on a smartphone or smartwatch.

Conduent said the new system would allow customers to purchase and top-up their myki cards at train stations, retail agents, and through online services and over the phone.

The new ticketing contract will begin on 1 December 2023.

Conduent Business Services has delivered and currently operates more than four hundred ticketing systems across 24 countries, including in Paris, Dubai, Montreal and New Jersey.

Shadow minister for public transport, Richard Riordan, called on the Government to ensure that Victoria’s new public transport ticketing contract delivers a modern, digital and effective ticketing system.

“The original Myki contract, signed under the former Bracks Labor Government, blew out by more than $500 million, was two years late and has plagued by faults and technical shortcomings,” he said in the statement.

“It’s 2023, yet Victoria lags behind the rest of Australia and the world when it comes to ticketing on public transport,” Riordan said.

He added: “Victorians have already waited 18 years for a system that works and the Andrews Government must ensure the mistakes of the past are not repeated again.

“If this new system is ready off-the-shelf, then the Andrews Government must explain why won’t it be fully rolled out until the end of 2025.”

He noted that customers in New South Wales have, since 2018, been able to tap on with a credit or debit card.

“This new system must deliver the modern, effective and reliable ticketing system Victorians across the state need and deserve.”

In 2021, the Victorian Government set itself a two-year timeframe to secure a new partner that would take over from NTT Data in overseeing and building its contactless ‘smart ticketing’ system.

Aussie developer Kamco, owned by NTT Data, had a 17-year-long partnership with the Victorian Government, with an initial 10-year contract with the consortium extended by another seven years in 2016.