When was the last time you dialled a number and ordered a taxi? For most of us the days of ringing up for a ride are long gone in the age of Uber, GoCatch and other apps, but for our parliamentarians, making a phone call is still the only way to book a Comcar.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Department of Finance is set to shake up the antiquated system, releasing a tender for a company to develop a software system to allow Comcars to be booked online - and it has to be mobile friendly.
Commonwealth MPs, the Governor General and federal judges are the main users of Comcars, the fleet of (mostly) white Holden Caprices that ferry them from place to place.
The system, which is available in all Australian capital cities and runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, currently requires someone to phone a staff member in the Finance department to book a car, but the department wants to move the system online.
Finance Chief Information Officer John Sheridan told an industry briefing on Thursday the department wasn't looking for "bespoke" software. "We are looking for something that is commercial off the shelf," he said.
The Comcar system manages 60,000 bookings a year, with more than 360 drivers, 60 administration staff and more than 160 vehicles. According to the Finance Department's annual report, it costs just above $3 million a year. It's unclear how the new system will affect that budget.
There was no mention of whether the new system would allow for drivers and passengers to rate each other like Uber, but an online mobile system was one of the must-haves, according to Sheridan. As well as a booking system, Finance wants to be able to manage incidents with cars and rostering for drivers, many of whom are on casual contracts.
The new software already has a catchy name - Comcar Automared Resource System or CARS - and is expected to be in place by December this year.
