Another report on...

Another report on Tcard

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22136742-15306,00.html

July 26, 2007
THE NSW government is not brawling with the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RBTU) over delays to the introduction of the T-card fare system, Transport Minister John Watkins says.

Following the cancellation of a meeting today between the RBTU and State Transit to discuss the T-card, Mr Watkins sought to dispel any impression of a dispute over the planned system.
He was supported by the RBTU's NSW divisional secretary, Raul Baonza, who said the meeting had been cancelled because of a strike by inspectors at the Kingsgrove bus depot.

"It is unrelated to the T-card. They have their own issues; they are in the commission now so because of that the 11 o'clock meeting was cancelled," Mr Baonza said.

Mr Watkins admitted the RBTU had its concerns over the T-card system but said those concerns had been resolved or were still being worked on.

Among the problems were the integrity of the computer data, errors and drivers' checking of bus fares during a shift, the deputy premier said in a statement.

Premier Morris Iemma said today his government would only introduce the T-card once it was confident it would not affect public transport users.

"That's what he (Watkins) has been doing since he took on the portfolio, to work through the issues of the technology and the card," Mr Iemma said.

"We're not going to impose a ticketing system on the travelling public without the confidence that it will work."