New blood to boost public transport tech
Victoria’s public transport network is set to undergo an overhaul of its IT systems, initiated by a newly-recruited chief information officer.
Public Transport Victoria (PTV) has appointed Carolyn De Gois as its new CIO, taking the technological reins at PTV following the departure of Justin Bree.
Ms De Gois has worked for some of the big players in the IT arena, including recent stints at KPMG and IBM Global Business. She has signed on the young PTV agency as it undertakes a full re-assessment and re-structure of its IT services.
PTV was formed in 2012 by the new Victorian state government in an effort to end the redundancy and confusion caused by having multiple separate administrators. The integrated transport authority was reportedly lumped with the unconnected resources and functions of multiple dissolved organisations.
It has worked well enough so far, but it is hoped that the reassessment of the entire operation will further streamline services.
PTV has admirably handled the introduction of the Myki ticketing system, which was created between the separate groups and dumped upon PTV when it was formed.
Other possible technological challenges faced by the Victorian public transport body include creating a functional mobile phone application to book journeys across its services.
PTV may also follow the lead of London, New York and more recently Sydney – making agreements with Google Maps to include their timetables on the world’s most popular route planning service.