As I understand it ERG was obliged by the NSW State Government...

As I understand it ERG was obliged by the NSW State Government to develop an electronic/digital version of the outdated and many types of ticketing systems which have been operative in the city for the past 20 years or so...

The government was frightened of alienating commuters [ie. voters] who are so familiar with this mish mash of these so-called "systems".

Singapore, Hong Kong work because they threw out the old and brought in the new....the very ordinary governments which have been in power in NSW these past 15 years have no such vision.

ERG must have acquiesced to this lack of vision to win the contract and then expected to educate their masters as the project moved along...obviously this state of awareness was never attained and they have ended up trying to digitise square pegs into analogue holes...public transport in Sydney is a disgrace and ditching ERG at the 11th hour is just one more idiotic decision by an incompetent government