NSW close to naming e-ticketing vendor
The NSW authority responsible for establishing an electronic ticketing system for public transport users in Sydney has missed a self-imposed deadline for awarding a company to roll out the system, but is almost ready to announce a winner.
PTTC 2009-10 corporate plan
(Credit: PTTC 2009-10 corporate plan)
In the PTTC's eight-page 2009-10 corporate plan (PDF), it said it would evaluate proposals in the fourth quarter of 2009 and would be "executing a contract with the successful proponent by the end of Q1/2010". Yesterday was the last day of that quarter.
"We're in the final stages of evaluating the tenders," the Public Ticketing Transport Corporation (PTTC) said in an official statement yesterday.
The PTTC is a statutory authority which was created by the NSW Government in 2006 to get an electronic ticketing system off the ground. When asked whether there had been a change of timetable, the corporation referred the question to NSW Transport Minister David Campbell, who didn't add any detail.
"We are in the final stages of evaluating tenders," Campbell told ZDNet.com.au in a statement. "We are still on track to roll out e-ticketing from 2012," he said. "It is important we get this process right."
ZDNet.com.au understands the announcement of a winner is just weeks away and that a decision is currently before Cabinet for final approval.
On 9 March last year, successful entities for the last round in the selection process were the Glide Consortium, the Pearl Consortium and Scheidt and Bachmann. Three months later on 5 June, the Glide Consortium dropped out leaving only the Pearl Consortium and Scheidt and Bachmann to battle it out.
Since originally establishing the PTTC, the government has been unsuccessful in establishing an electronic ticketing system and is currently in a court battle with ERG Group subsidiary ITSL after the government cancelled the company's contract to roll-out a system..