Roll Out of Day Passes was meant to be May 15, now delayed until fix and short-term work around has sorted

 

 

Note: All information embedded in this post is in the public domain per the a Local Government Official Information and Meets Act request which can be seen here: https://fyi.org.nz/request/1704-delays-to-roll-out-of-at-hop-day-pass. Talking Auckland would also like to extend thanks to Nigel Jones who sent the LGOIMA request off in May over the AT-HOP Daily pass situation. I tip my hat to you sir 🙂

 

AT-HOP System in Trouble in Regards to Daily Passes

 

The issue over Day Passes and the Family Pass since AT-HOP rolled out in 2012. For me and Talking Auckland it is an issue I have been fighting with Auckland Transport over for nearly two years at a rather high cost to me. Back in September 2012 I was raising the concerns over the lack of accessibility to the Family Pass (and in part the Day Pass as well). You can see that post here: $57.80 For A Return Trip on An Auckland Train. 

Of course since then we have had some movements in cash and AT-HOP fares.

 

Fast forward to June 2014 and a LGOIMA dump by Auckland Transport in regards to the issues still presiding over the AT-HOP saga in regards to Daily Passes (and assumingly Family Passes).

Nigel sent through a LGOIMA request to Auckland Transport over the delays on the Day Passes being rolled out across the AT-HOP system. In kind Auckland Transport have replied. You can see Nigel’s post here: Whatever Happened To Daily Passes, an LGOIMA Answer. Just a note over on that post as I helped Nigel with some aspects of it: In giving names to the acronyms. I gave the full names to the best of my knowledge however, there is a chance I might have given a wrong name somewhere. If so I stand corrected and acknowledge that correction as such.

As for the LGOIMA information I present it to you in the embeds below in order. This information again is in the public domain and served as is when received for your own interpretation :

The Acknowledgement:

 

The Material

 

 

 

 

What does it all mean?

 

In short the following:

Auckland Transport failed to get the roll out of the Daily Passes onto AT-HOP for public consumption on May 16. A back up date for mid-June was proposed which has now lapsed.

The Discovery Pass as a result of the Daily Passes being rolled out was meant to be scrapped on May 31st. As of now you can still get the Discovery Pass from the AT-Ticket Offices until further notice.

From what I can see the entire issue stems around the Thales software unable to easily process (if process at all) the six Daily Pass products with AT-HOP. Thales have been requested to work on a software patch to fix this all up but in the mean time a workaround is being sorted so that two Daily Pass products work. These two reduced products are: ABC Daily Fare (so can cross all zones), and the Ferry AB Daily Fare (which I take means you can use the Ferry and travel between the A and B Zones on land). Auckland has three zones in regards to public transport fares: A, B and C. Those with Monthly Passes will know all about this

If issues are being presented such as the above with the Daily Passes would they affect the Family Pass being rolled out as well. That said would the Family Pass (being at $25) just cover the ABC zones as a single product. Which means could have the Family Pass being rolled out two years ago with AT-HOP.

 

The answer to the Family Pass question is a “No” owing to a potential software fault with the Thales ticketing system we use for AT HOP Super Gold paper tickets. That fault which affects the Super Gold paper tickets through the software unable to NOT print Super Gold tickets before 9am on a weekday – thus prone to abuse. Apparently it would cost millions to get a software patch in place that would make the Rail Ticket Machines only print the Super Gold tickets after 9am per the Conditions of Carriage. As the Family Pass also operates on the same post-9am condition as the Super Gold passes one could see why it has not been rolled out across the AT-HOP system yet (amongst other reasons).

If it is going to cost that much to patch up software for the Super Gold and potentially the Family Pass glitch does it mean it will cost that or even more to fix the AT-HOP system for the Daily Passes to work? Or will Auckland Transport jsut stick to a workaround to what seems to be a broken system. More to the point who pays for the patch? Thales or Auckland Transport. A full review of the contract to supply AT-HOP via a public inquiry by Auckland Council might be in order here as this I would gather is deemed very high public interest. The question is will Council hold such an inquiry to see where it went wrong and what can be done to prevent this from ever happening again.

 

Nearly two years I was first alerted to issues with AT-HOP, and the Passes not being widely available. Back then it was rumoured to be software as the reason why. Now two years later with the LGOIMA at hand it seems software was the primary issue in regards to the Daily Passes not on AT-HOP.

 

So when will this end?

When will we get our Family Passes and Daily Passes onto AT-HOP?

How much will the patches cost to fix this?

Why did all this happen in the first place and why two years to fix it after the issues first became known

 

Not good for Auckland Transport especially when you see this in the LGOIMA dump:

Delay Day Pass implementation (already done at least twice – potential reputational to AT)

Potential? More like actual….