Australian Capital Territory
Road Transport (General) MyWay Smart Card Fees Determination 2013 (No 1)
Disallowable Instrument DI2013—1
made under the
Road Transport (General) Act 1999, section 96 (Determination of fees, charges and other amounts)
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

This instrument introduces a fee for purchasing or replacing a MyWay smart card of $5.00 generally, or $2.50 for concession card holders and students.  This fee is intended to offset the costs of issuing and replacing MyWay cards.  People that meet the eligibility criteria for provision of an ACT Seniors card will be issued the combined MyWay Seniors card free of charge.

The MyWay system was launched in April 2011 for users of ACTION buses.  Since the introduction of the system a large number of MyWay cards have been returned to the MyWay Administration Office as lost property and most of these cards are in debit balance.

Additionally customers have given feedback that sellers of preload tickets are advising users not to reload travel credit through the MyWay recharge options, but just to dispose of the card and purchase another, in the same manner as the magnetic strip tickets were used.

This behaviour has a negative cost effect due to card production costs, as well as the cards often being run into debit before disposal.  The use of the MyWay card as a disposable ticket is against the ethos of a stored value system which sees the ticket being reused for many years which drives down operating costs for the system.

The fee for a MyWay smart card will provide an incentive to keep and reuse MyWay cards, to avoid incurring the replacement fees.  The added incentive will help to reduce the treatment of MyWay cards as disposable and to ensure that debit balances on the MyWay system are addressed through routine top-ups of existing cards.