Tasmanians will soon be able to monitor the status of the state’s buses and ferries in real-time using a new online tracking system.
The long-promised system, which is still some five months away, will be rolled out across the public transport network from December.
Transport Minister Eric Abetz says the customer experience will be “substantially enhanced” with the new system, which already exists in all other capital cities besides Hobart.
“In the event that there’s a traffic jam, in the event that there’s been a mechanical breakdown, whatever, customers will be able to track their bus and understand what the delay might be,” he said.
“Certainty, reliability, those sort of factors are very important for all of us and of course it’s important for those customers that use our public transport system.”
Abetz says the rollout will begin with Hobart’s Metro services and then be progressively expanded to other areas, but will exclude school buses.
He was unable to provide a specific timeframe for the completion of the rollout, saying only that it should not take “too long”.
“We will try to get this done as soon as possible,” he said.
Metro CEO Katie Cooper expects the rollout across their bus fleet to take a “few months rather than a few years”.
“We’re really excited to support the initiative, we think it’s going to be a game changer for the customers that are traveling on our services so we’re excited to see it coming on board,” she said.
Passengers will be able to track their buses using Google Maps or the Metro app.
The update comes as the state government prepares to allow travellers to pay for their public transport trips using mobile phones and credit/debit cards.
The state government first committed to investigating options for live bus tracking in 2020.
