Consultant finds worrying risks in $1.3b National Ticketing Solution

Waka Kotahi’s planning for a new public transport solution that will cost $1.3 billion has been labelled insufficient by a consultant appointed to review the transport agency’s work.

The agency has indicated it has since got more on top of the situation.

The National Ticketing Solution is designed to let passengers pay for bus, train and ferry trips by tagging on and off with their credit or debit card or smartphone, replacing existing public transport cards, and is due to launch first in Canterbury next year.

Consultancy EY appeared to pull no punches in its “rapid assurance report”, saying it had found high and moderate risks in the work programme.

“This assessment is based on the programme’s current approach to integrated planning not representing the source of truth across work streams or the critical path across the programme,” it said.

“The delivery constructs of programme management and level of resource is not sufficient for effective planning and risk management for a programme of this size and complexity.”

EY listed several risks to the project being delivered on time that it said had not been fully planned for.

These included the closure of 3G phone networks that could impact connectivity, uncertainties over some software changes,

and a question mark over the speed at which necessary staff could be brought on board in Christchurch.

Some stakeholders EY interviewed believed there was not enough time left for the risks or issues to be resolved, it said.

“This indicates a risk of optimism bias that could lead to time-line impacts that the programme is under-prepared for.”

EY said it had observed some friction between Waka Kotahi and Environment

Canterbury (ECan) “given the ambiguity in some roles and responsibilities across deliverables resulting in perceived lack of delivery by both parties”.

“There is not a shared understanding of the level of capability and capacity that should be expected by Waka Kotahi from local public transport agencies such as ECan.”

The report was initially published in June and then re-released on November 22 after the transport agency sought a correction to a separate claim there was no central risk register for the programme and that its view of programme risks was not up to date.

But EY still maintained in its revised report that Waka Kotahi’s reporting of risks could be more robust.

Waka Kotaki noted all EY’s other criticisms in comments incorporated into re-released report, indicating they either had been or were being addressed since the original review in June.

“At the time of the review, ECan recruitment was under way. It is now complete,” it said.

“A programme-assurance lead started in June 2023 and has completed a detailed review of risks, issues and approach,” it also said.

Waka Kotahi forecast in its original business case for the ticketing system that it would cost just under $1.34 billion, including the cost of operating the system over its first 14 years, and advised in October there had been no change to that forecast since then.

It initially refused an Official Information Act request to release the value of its contract with British company Cubic which won the bid to build, configure and operate the system over its first 10 years.

However, it reported the value of that contract at just over $474m, after comments from the Ombudsman were brought to its attention that suggested the grounds it gave for non-disclosure were not valid.