Twenty per cent of Brisbane River ferry commuters take up smart ticketing since April launch
Smart ticketing began on Brisbane ferries in April. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)
About one in five commuters using Brisbane ferries, including CityCats, have turned to smart ticketing since the new payment method was introduced in April.
The activation of smart ticketing on bus services is also still expected to kick off later this year, but Translink will not say if it will begin on Brisbane City Council buses in 2024.
The new ticketing system was launched on ferries on April 16, allowing commuters to tap on and off their services with a credit card, debit card, or smart device instead of a Go Card.
Since then, commuters have taken more than 145,000 Brisbane River ferry trips using smart ticketing, which equates to about 20 per cent of all paid journeys.
In addition to ferries, smart ticketing is also available on South East Queensland trains and light rail — although it can only currently be used for full paying adult fares.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish described the uptake of smart ticketing on ferries since its launch about ten weeks ago as "outstanding".
"It's easier than ever to travel on the Brisbane River and that's good news whether you're a tourist exploring our city or a commuter getting to and from work," he said.
"Our rollout of smart ticketing is ensuring Queensland's public transport network has a seamless and modern ticketing solution."
More than 15 million trips using the new ticketing system have also now been taken on light rail and train services.
Rollout on buses 'operator by operator'
All 2,600 buses in South East Queensland have also been equipped with smart ticketing equipment, but the technology is yet to be switched on for use.
A spokesperson for Translink said trials of smart ticketing on buses were still planned to start "operator by operator" later this year.
However, when asked if it would commence on all bus operators by the end of this year, Translink would not say.
The public transport operator also would not say if it would begin on Brisbane City Council buses this year.
"The order of bus operators for rollout customer trials will be based on factors such as connections to heavy rail, patronage levels, operator size, and geographic location," a Translink spokesperson said.
"Rollout dates for individual bus operators will be determined progressively as each trial is successfully implemented and working as intended."
The state government had previously suggested that smart ticketing would be up and running on buses by the end of 2023, but commencement was pushed back to 2024.
The Translink spokesperson said further announcements about smart ticketing trials on South East Queensland buses would be made closer to commencement.
"Buses are wireless systems, unlike the fixed systems we have installed on tram and [train] platforms," they said.
"This brings different technical complexities in ensuring the new devices and supporting systems work effectively as buses travel across different environments and zones on our network."
More than 150 million public transport trips were taken within South East Queensland in 2022-'23.