But Snapper - which won the major contract to supply the Auckland Transport integrated ticketing system for HOP cards and readers - could not meet that deadline.

Auckland Transport chief executive David Warburton this afternoon announced the termination, and said Auckland Transport had made a commitment with French company Thales to deliver an alternative solution.

k1w33d: Google Wallet is the answer

Linuxluver:

I don't have much faith in the court of public opinion at the moment. It is lead by the nose by the right-wing Irish multi-national that owns APN and the right-wing Australian multi-national that owns Fairfax. Fairfax's largest shareholder is Gina Rinehart, the mining billionaire, who wants seats on the Board while REFUSING to sign a declaration she won't interfere with editorial content. She wants the media she owns to promote mining...and ignore any negative consequences of mining.  She thinks climate change is a lie...and so on. Ignorant redneck billionaire rampant in a media china shop.  

Not much hope for informed public opinion, I'm afraid. You have to do your own homework from source documents...and most people these days can't even read them because they lack the background to understand what they are looking at.  

The only Kiwi-owned 'mass' media are TVNZ and Radio NZ and this government is doing the best to choke the life out of them for the benefit of their mates at Mediaworks and Sky (again...both foreign-owned).

RNZ hasn't had a funding increase in 3 years. The government shut down completely TVNZ7...who were doing a reasonably good job of making serious public affairs programming for people who want to know what's really going on. TVNZ had its public service charter torn up and shat upon. They are now there ONLY to make money.

You can only be 'even-handed' about party affiliation if you don't know who has been doing all these terrible things.

It's the National Party. They really should be called the "Multi-National 1% Farmer Party" because that is who they really look after. 

That's about as even-handed as you can be with an obviously guilty party. Name and shame.

Kyanar:

k1w33d: Google Wallet is the answer

Absolutely out of the question.  Google's sole reason for existence is to collect as much data on individuals as possible, and I would be furious if the council essentially gave them Auckland's entire public transport patronage to datamine.  Google Wallet can stay away.

ajobbins: Snapper media release:

https://www.snapper.co.nz/newsroom/2012/08/24/snapper-media-release/

I think the next wee while is going to be very interesting as the truth comes out!

oxnsox:

ajobbins: Snapper media release:

https://www.snapper.co.nz/newsroom/2012/08/24/snapper-media-release/

I think the next wee while is going to be very interesting as the truth comes out!

Clearly they're very peeved.

Some media channel really needs to apply a proper journalistic investigation to this, but I suspect the disinterested Auckland public means it may never happen

Wellington-based Snapper Services Limited (Snapper) today confirmed that it had received notice from Auckland Transport purporting to terminate the Participation Agreement signed in November 2010.

Snapper maintains it has been wrongly blamed for delays in the introduction of Auckland’s Integrated Fares System (AIFS).

“The fault lies with Auckland Transport, New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), and the French multinational Thales for not providing the critical components for successful integration” Snapper Chair Rhoda Phillippo said tonight.

“Over the course of the last few months Snapper and Auckland Transport have been discussing Snapper’s role in the AIFS project. Auckland Transport has been concerned about its ability to deliver a complex multi-party integrated fare system. “The parties had been working over the course of the last two weeks on next steps but were unable to reach agreement”.

As a result, Auckland Transport has announced that they will engage French multinational Thales to develop and roll out a bus solution for all Auckland bus operators by April 2013 at a cost of over $12 million.

Rhoda said “We are naturally disappointed by this decision, as we have invested significant capital and effort to develop the Snapper system, which is currently the only operational integrated ticketing and payments solution in New Zealand. We are frustrated that critical components for our integration work that we needed from Auckland Transport, NZTA and Thales have consistently not been made available to us. Snapper put forward a plan in April that would have delivered by 30 November, but Auckland Transport never took the decisions and steps it needed to take for that plan to be implemented.”

“Auckland Transport is being disingenuous with its attempt to position Snapper as the reason that the AIFS project is delayed. Delivery of the AIFS system was the responsibility of Auckland Transport, with their partner NZTA and their prime contractor Thales. Snapper’s role was limited to integrating with that system, and the reality is that the AIFS system has not yet been built. What Auckland Transport also fail to mention is that of their $100m spent to date on this project, Snapper has never received any compensation for its integration efforts. Auckland Transport are solely accountable for the design, systems integration and delivery of this project”.

“Snapper is ready to deliver a fully compliant and integrated system as soon as Auckland Transport address fundamental capability and project management gaps – something they are unlikely to do until they acknowledge they have a problem.”

“The ultimate cost of this decision by Auckland Transport for Auckland ratepayers is likely to be significant when compared with the commercial investment that Snapper has made to date and were willing to continue to invest until the project completed”.

“Snapper’s clear legal position is that it has not breached its contract with Auckland Transport, so Auckland Transport cannot terminate the contract. All necessary legal steps will be taken to recover losses arising from the wrongful termination.”

The HopSnapper solution has proved to be a worthy solution as it has enabled Auckland Transport to meet its Rugby World Cup electronic ticketing commitments and improved service in Auckland. Snapper and NZBus will continue to operate HopSnapper and support the ca. 200,000 cards on issue to customers in Auckland.

Rhoda maintains that Snapper remains a successful option. “New Zealand’s regions want a choice of how they deploy integrated ticketing for their customers. The Auckland system is expensive and complex and may not be appropriate for smaller regions with less public transport patronage. Snapper will continue to offer its services in these regions where it makes economic sense. Snapper’s existing business in Wellington remains a key focus as do other projects including Parking and Mobile Payments where Snapper has established a clear leadership position with partner 2Degrees.”

In the interim, NZBus and Snapper will continue to focus on ensuring they provide excellent services for Auckland passengers.

Rhoda Phillippo
Chair, Snapper Services Limited

freitasm: In 12 months we will hear all about AKL NOT HAVING A BUS SYSTEM and how it's Snapper's fault - by then all these AKL folks will be retired and have nothing to say...