Several Canberra commuters say they have been billed for phantom bus trips to a specific stop in the city's west, with one transport charge recorded hours after the final bus service.
However, the ACT's transport agency says it has only received one report of a potentially incorrect charge, and believed the complaint to be an isolated incident.
Commuter Scott Taylor said he was billed $3.68 for two "phantom journeys" late at night from the same bus stop at John Gorton Drive after Opperman Avenue, in Wright.
His MyWay+ account shows he got on a bus at 10.13pm and got off at 10.27pm on July 7, before again getting on a bus at 12.27am and getting off at 12.45am on July 8.
"I've never been to that part of the city on a bus, and so they've charged me for both of those journeys," Mr Taylor said.
"It's only $3.68 but I didn't take these journeys and I'm not going to pay for them."
Buses do not run along John Gorton Drive after about 10.20pm on a weekday, according to the MyWay+ journey planner.
Mr Taylor said he contacted Transport Canberra for assistance, only to be told it was a problem for the MyWay+ technology operator NEC.
The Transport Canberra customer service agent admitted the charges were "very weird," he said.
"When I've gone back through my account ... I've gone back three months, this same address shows up as a non-charge boarding several times," the public transport user said.
Mr Taylor said he used a physical MyWay+ card for his daily commute between Tuggeranong and Barton. Those trips were correctly recorded on his transport account, he said.
Several other commuters on the Canberra Reddit page said trips to and from the same John Gorton Drive after Opperman Avenue bus stop had also appeared on their accounts.
"Everyone needs to check their account. I found two transactions at that same stop on John Gorton Dr 30mins apart. Tap on and tap off the same stop. I live in Tuggers [sic] so have no reason to be that far north," one commuter said.
"I have emailed [Transport Canberra] and asked about this myself, I received a phone call within 10 minutes of said email. They couldn't tell me, what was happening and just blamed the new system and no refund on my account," another said.
A Transport Canberra spokesperson said the agency had received one report from a customer who said an electronic QR code was used for a journey that they did not take, after they had completed their travel.
The complaint does not appear to be Mr Taylor's, who uses a physical MyWay+ card.
"Transport Canberra is currently investigating the matter to determine exactly what occurred and what may have caused a potential error," the spokesperson said.
"The MyWay+ system processes over 41,000 transactions each day across the ACT public transport network. Based on information currently available, this appears to be an isolated report rather than a broader system-wide issue.
"If anyone believes they have been incorrectly charged, they are encouraged to contact Transport Canberra by calling 13 17 10 so this can be investigated."
The MyWay+ system has been beset with problems since it was launched in November 2024, with issues including failed payments and low recorded passenger numbers. ACT Transport Minister Chris Steel apologised for the system's troubled rollout in early 2026.
