Brisbane commuters travel for free after Go Card fail

A software issue affecting Go Card readers left Queensland commuters unable to pay for travel on parts of Brisbane's public transport network on Monday.

Commuters first reported issues on Monday morning, with free rides offered to bus and ferry users across the the South East Queensland public transport network.

The issue impacted bus and ferry readers, while readers on train stations were unaffected.

TransLink acknowledged the issues in a social media update just before 6pm AEST.

Go card device readers on buses and ferries are currently unavailable.

Please call 13 12 30 for any go card related concerns or enquiries. https://t.co/K2LtKmO0sW #TLAlert

— TransLink (@TransLinkSEQ) September 3, 2018

A TransLink spokesperson told iTnews that it was working with Go Card operator Cubic Transportation to address the system issue.

"TransLink is working with technology partner Cubic to fix the problem, including the rollback to an earlier version of the software," the spokesperson said.

"Unfortunately the issue is continuing and is likely to impact bus and ferry services during the afternoon peak commute.

"Resolving this issue is Cubic’s top priority and they have allocated a team of technicians, who are working to fix this issue as quickly as possible.

"Customers will not be adversely impacted and will be able to travel for free until the issue is resolved."

It comes just months commuters were unable to pay for tickets using debit or credit cards for seven hours following a Telstra outage that downed TransLink's EFTPOS payment system. 

The Queensland government recently named Cubic to replace the system with a $379 million next-generation public transport ticketing system.

Update Tuesday 4 September 9:20am: TransLink have advised that Go Card readers are now working on buses and ferries.