SMART CARD TECHNOLOGY

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:40): My question is to the Minister for Transport Services. Can the minister update the house on progress to install smart card technology across the Adelaide metro train, bus and tram network and to provide public transport customers with real time travel information?

The Hon. C.C. FOX (Bright—Minister for Transport Services) (14:41): I would like to thank the member for Mitchell for his question. We have committed $2 billion to a decade-long program to modernise and revitalise our train, bus and tram networks, and in time we will boast the best public transport system in Australia. The new smart card ticketing system, known as Metrocard, not tuna card, is an integral—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.C. FOX: The reason why I say the thing about the tuna is because—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.C. FOX: No; it is a celebration of tuna. Hear me out. In London the smart card is called the—

Dr McFetridge: Oyster Card.

The Hon. C.C. FOX: —Oyster Card. Thank you very much, member for Morphett. In Hong Kong it is called the Octopus Card.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Well, we know about Victoria. We do not talk about Victoria. We are having a Metrocard and somebody suggested that we name it after a great fishy export, but then it would have been the tuna card and I—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Tuna card? I don't think tuna card is a small business, but I stand to be corrected. The Metrocard will eventually replace multitrips. It will be used on all buses, trams and trains by simply touching the pre-paid card to a validator as passengers board. It can be topped up or recharged with credit at selected retail outlets, vending machines, on trains and trams and online. As I have informed the house previously—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. Don't be frivolous.

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Is there a point of order?

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, can you sit down. It is very hard to hear today.

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I have no idea what you just said. I just heard a blur.

Mr PISONI: What I said was I move that the minister's answer be inserted into Hansard without reading.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: I rise on a point of order.

The SPEAKER: It is a very frivolous point of order. You know you cannot do that in question time. Point of order, Minister for Transport.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: If the member for Unley knew anything of standing orders he would know that was completely out of order.

The SPEAKER: Absolutely.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! It is very hard to hear today with these microphones. They are obviously not working and with every second one not working it is hard to hear anyway. It is very garbled. Minister, can you complete your answer, please.

The Hon. C.C. FOX: The new ticketing system is also revolutionised in the way that customers can use their tickets. What this new ticketing system is going to give our buses is a GPS tracking capability. That will mean that every single bus which is moving around our system will be able to be tracked in real time, and that is very important for those who are using the system. The 120 buses and two railcars now using that system are already successfully providing that level of positioning.

This GPS technology supersedes Smart Stops, the electronic signs that were located at several bus stops around Adelaide. By way of context, the Smart Stop technology to the new GPS technology is akin to audio cassettes and iPods. It is also worth pointing out to the house that the technology that the Smart Stops were using is now obsolete and not one that we can replicate. It was made in France. As many members will agree, the Metrocard represents a very exciting time for all of us associated with the public transport network.