http://www.busnews.com.au/index.cfm?storyid=31667&cp=displaystory...

http://www.busnews.com.au/index.cfm?storyid=31667&cp=displaystory

Sydney bus drivers have pulled out of a T-Card trial. The drivers' move comes after the retirement of John Stott, the former chief executive of State Transit and the chief of the organisation set up to deliver the T-card, the Public Transport Ticketing Corporation.

Drivers at Kingsgrove depot voted to boycott the trial of the travel smart card on State Transit buses because they have to stop work to fix the ticket machine when it failed.

It had become a safety issue, says the divisional secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, Raul Baonza. One driver was so distracted by a T-Card machine that kept failing to print receipts he forgot to put on the handbrake and the bus rolled 10 metres into a council garden, he says.

The 420 drivers would no longer require passengers involved in the trials to swipe their Tcard, Baonza says.

"From the drivers' point of view the biggest frustration is the machines are incapable of issuing tickets without crashing. The Government has to face reality - the system is a flop."

"It makes it harder to concentrate on their driving or to give people customer service