The $1.4 billion national ticketing solution (NTS) has been delayed by a year with a review finding New Zealand Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi original timings for the plan were "overly ambitious".
The nationwide ticketing solution would - for the first time - allow New Zealanders to easily tag on to buses, trains and ferries using contactless payments across the country.
It was meant to be on public transport across the country by the end of next year but following an independent review has been announced that deadline would be pushed back to the end of 2027.
New Zealand Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi chief customer and services officer Sarina Pratley said that the project's review was launched in May and had resulted in 10 main recommendations.
Those included changes to the programme governance, leadership, delivery and decision making, as well as ensuring realistic resourcing commitments from all NTS partners.
Sarina Pratley said "NTS is a complex programme to deliver. It is replacing four different ticketing systems that support five national and additional local concessions with one standardised national system. The challenge has been accommodating a broad range of localised requirements into one national technical solution. New Zealand Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi has used the review's insights to get agreement for a more manageable incremental release plan for the technical solution."
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