ACTION bus passengers boarding morning services from Gungahlin to the city on the busy 202 route will be required to use the My Way card as part of a trial of "cashless" fares.
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Territory and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury will announce the move on Wednesday, seeing drivers not accepting cash payments for passenger tickets during the morning peak from May 18.
Mr Rattenbury said the move would speed up boarding times for commuters and improve bus movements from the Gungahlin town centre.
If the trial is successful, more of Canberra's bus routes could soon be added to the new cashless system.
May 18 will also see changes to the current Network 14 bus timetable, including increases in the number of buses leaving the Gungahlin Market Place before 10am on weekdays.
"The Route 202 service was introduced under Network 14 to provide a faster journey for commuters from the Gungahlin town centre during the morning peak," Mr Rattenbury said.
"With more than 84 per cent of public transport users in the ACT using pre-paid My Way cards to catch ACTION services, and more than 96 per cent of users currently catching the Route 202 using a pre-paid My Way card, transitioning to pre-pay only options is a logical next step."
Cashless bus services are already used on public transport networks around the world, including on bus services in Melbourne. Paper tickets are sold on buses in Sydney and Brisbane.
Mr Rattenbury said passengers had shown they liked cashless travel.
"If the introduction of a cashless service is successful and welcomed by commuters in the ACT, the initiative could be considered for other routes in the future," he said in a statement.
Passengers who don't have a valid My Way card will be required to use other bus services to the city and other locations from the Red Rapid express transport corridor.
My Way card users can travel for $2.91 per trip, compared with a $4.60 cash fare. The card can be recharged online or in stores.
The planned series of changes to services later this month have been finalised through passenger consultation and network data analysis. The introduction of Network 14 in September attracted criticism from some bus users.
Mr Rattenbury said overcrowding on Red Rapid buses from Gungahlin had been experienced since the changes.
Signage, flyers and information online is alerting passengers to the coming changes.
"The updated network will see improved on-time running as well as better distribution of services, better connections and more even spacing of departures times for similar routes," Mr Rattenbury said.
"ACTION is committed to continual improvement of its services. Transport planners can now continually monitor the network using performance data available from the MyWay and NXTBUS systems to identify area for improvement.
"The introduction of a cashless route service is another step in working towards building a better bus service for the people of Canberra."
More information about Canberra's bus routes, timetables and maps are available online or from the My Way Information Line on 13 17 10.
