Victoria's myki claims $80m this year
The Victorian Government allocated $80.8 million in yesterday's 2010-11 budget to the continued roll-out of the myki smartcard ticketing system this financial year.
The $80.8 million funding for the roll-out of the system will be the last of the $460.9 million allocated to the project, save $5 million. The $460.9 million was purely for the roll-out of the system, not its operation.
With this remaining funding, the myki will have to be rolled out onto Melbourne's trams and buses. As yet, the system has only made its way onto trains.
A statement released by myki yesterday rejected reports that the budget had blown out to three times its original size. It stated that the original budget for the ticketing system roll-out and 10 years of operation was originally estimated at $1 billion but was expanded to $1.35 billion in the 2008 budget to "cover the cost of additional devices required for new buses and trams which have been acquired since the original contract was signed, additional gates at railway stations and a change to increase card memory".
Among other investments made in the budget, $17 million has been allocated for new numberplate recognition technology for the Victorian Police, and $7 million has been allocated for 7000 new or replacement computers in early childhood education.