❓ Hon Ken Travers questions the Minister for Transport regarding the SmartParker system's lack of receipts, potential for unfair fines, and faulty SmartRider machines at Edgewater station. The Minister acknowledges the issues and outlines the PTA's investigation and review processes.
AnsweredQoN 359Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
PUBLIC
TRANSPORT AUTHORITY — SMARTPARKER SYSTEM
359. Hon KEN TRAVERS to the
parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Transport:
(1) Does the
minister agree that because the SmartParker system does not provide a receipt,
a customer has no way of proving they registered on a particular day?
(2) Does the
minister agree that a loyal customer who has a record of paying the SmartParker
fee every day should be given the benefit of the doubt if they claim they
registered on the day they received a fine?
(3) Will the
minister instruct the Public Transport Authority to apply good customer service
principles and waive fines for their loyal customers who have a good payment
record?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
(5) Can the
minister confirm that a SmartRider machine at Edgewater train station has been
playing up for the last six months and often does not allow people to tag off?
(6) If yes to (5), why has it not been fixed?
TRANSPORT AUTHORITY — SMARTPARKER SYSTEM
359. Hon KEN TRAVERS to the
parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Transport:
(1) Does the
minister agree that because the SmartParker system does not provide a receipt,
a customer has no way of proving they registered on a particular day?
(2) Does the
minister agree that a loyal customer who has a record of paying the SmartParker
fee every day should be given the benefit of the doubt if they claim they
registered on the day they received a fine?
(3) Will the
minister instruct the Public Transport Authority to apply good customer service
principles and waive fines for their loyal customers who have a good payment
record?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
(5) Can the
minister confirm that a SmartRider machine at Edgewater train station has been
playing up for the last six months and often does not allow people to tag off?
(6) If yes to (5), why has it not been fixed?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of this question.
(1) After each
successful parking transaction, the message ''Payment OK'' is
displayed on the machine.
(2)–(4) A
condition of parking at a Transperth station car park is that a customer must
either display a valid cash parking ticket or pay the parking fee via a linked
SmartRider card for the vehicle. This requirement is clearly displayed on
signage at all stations. If a Transperth user is found to have not paid the
parking fee, they are infringed in accordance with the current Public Transport
Authority Regulations. The PTA also fully investigates any claims of faulty
SmartParker technology at a particular station to ensure this is not the reason
the passenger was unable to pay the prescribed parking fee. It should be noted
that when a fault occurs from time to time with the SmartParker equipment, more
than one singular customer will be affected by the fault and any infringement
notices issued as a result are withdrawn. Given that there are approximately
900 000 SmartRider transactions each day and approximately 16 000 SmartParker
transactions every day, the majority of Transperth's customers have a
good payment record and are regular users of the system. To simply withdraw
infringement notices on the basis that a passenger is a loyal customer, without
a thorough investigation into the circumstances of each infringement notice,
the PTA could not be consistent in its application of the regulations.
Accordingly, the minister approves of the PTA continuing to review each
infringement notice on a case-by-case basis.
(5)–(6) Edgewater
station has five SmartRider smart card processors that enable customers to tag
on and off at the station. Over the past six months, three faults have been reported,
noting that on each occasion a technician attended and the fault was rectified
the same day. On 21 March 2015, the fault was related to an incomplete
communications session. On 21 January 2015 and 17 February 2015 the smart card
processor could not read all cards.
some notice of this question.
(1) After each
successful parking transaction, the message ''Payment OK'' is
displayed on the machine.
(2)–(4) A
condition of parking at a Transperth station car park is that a customer must
either display a valid cash parking ticket or pay the parking fee via a linked
SmartRider card for the vehicle. This requirement is clearly displayed on
signage at all stations. If a Transperth user is found to have not paid the
parking fee, they are infringed in accordance with the current Public Transport
Authority Regulations. The PTA also fully investigates any claims of faulty
SmartParker technology at a particular station to ensure this is not the reason
the passenger was unable to pay the prescribed parking fee. It should be noted
that when a fault occurs from time to time with the SmartParker equipment, more
than one singular customer will be affected by the fault and any infringement
notices issued as a result are withdrawn. Given that there are approximately
900 000 SmartRider transactions each day and approximately 16 000 SmartParker
transactions every day, the majority of Transperth's customers have a
good payment record and are regular users of the system. To simply withdraw
infringement notices on the basis that a passenger is a loyal customer, without
a thorough investigation into the circumstances of each infringement notice,
the PTA could not be consistent in its application of the regulations.
Accordingly, the minister approves of the PTA continuing to review each
infringement notice on a case-by-case basis.
(5)–(6) Edgewater
station has five SmartRider smart card processors that enable customers to tag
on and off at the station. Over the past six months, three faults have been reported,
noting that on each occasion a technician attended and the fault was rectified
the same day. On 21 March 2015, the fault was related to an incomplete
communications session. On 21 January 2015 and 17 February 2015 the smart card
processor could not read all cards.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.