Eye2theLongRun

As the issue of best use of taxpayers capital again raises its head, a curt reminder of just how good Govts (od any stripe) are at managing projects “owned” by the state is this:

“Radio NZ reports:

When the New Zealand Transport Agency signed off on an integrated national ticketing system in 2009, John Key was prime minister, Avatar ruled at the box office and a pound of butter cost about $3.60.

After more than 16 years, the first stage of the $1.4 billion National Ticketing Solution’s (NTS) latest iteration, known as Motu Move, was launched on Monday in Christchurch, rolling out contactless payment options on bus and ferry services across Greater Christchurch.

The option to pay with contactless debit or credit cards and digital payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay on phones or smart watches on buses and ferries will work on three hundred buses across Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn, but only for those paying full fare.

A system to enable concession holders to pay less and the Motu Move cards themselves have been relegated to later stages.

The entire point of this system is to enable cards which can be programmed with maximum daily fees etc. So basically after 16 years, all they have managed to do is allow 300 buses to take EFTPOS. This is something that you could probably do in around a week, as mobile EFTPOS terminals are very common.

The NTS was slated to be launched in South Canterbury in 2024, but by the middle of this year, Transport Minister Chris Bishop weighed in, saying the project was facing technology, delivery and governance issues and was “not on track”.

Bishop said nothing was “off the table”, as consultants conducted an independent review of the project.”

What would your employment prospects look like if you were this good?

Thanks to David Farrar