Commuters will be waiting even longer to tap on and off public transport with phones and credit cards as a ticketing system overhaul falters.
Buried deep within Tuesday's 2025/26 Victorian budget, the Labor government revealed an upgrade of the state's myki system would be delivered over time and budget.
It was announced in February train passengers would be able to travel with bank cards and their phones from 2026, with 22,000 myki readers to be replaced across the network.
But the budget papers showed the replacement ticket reader program will take up to 18 months longer to finish and cost an extra $137 million.
The project was costed at $543.6 million in the last budget but the figure has blown out to $680.4 million following a "program reset".
The completion date has also shifted from mid-2027 to late 2028 after the finalisation of ticketing reader design requirements for some trams.
New Jersey-based company Conduent was awarded a $1.7 billion to overhaul and operate the myki system for the next 15 years.
NSW's Opal system has allowed passengers to tap on and off with their bank card or their phone since 2019 and ticketless travel is available on most of Queensland's network.
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin scoffed at the delay.
"We'll be the last state in the world that you can use a phone to tap on," he said.
"If you go to Japan, if you go to New York, if you go England ... you can travel and use your phone."
The Allan government maintained Victorians would be able to touch on with their credit cards, smartphones and watches from early 2026, saying the changes were part of a staged rollout.
"We want to do this once and do it right, learning from experiences overseas and in other states," a government spokesman said.
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will begin to sell her first budget on Wednesday at a business event in Melbourne.
The budget spruiked a $2.3 billion cost-of-living package, record health spending, no new taxes and a return to a $600 million operating surplus next financial year.
But net debt is on track to hit $194 billion by 2028/29, sending interest repayments soaring close to $29 million a day.
Ms Symes called it a "responsible budget" but it hasn't received an overly warm reception from business, property and development groups.
"While we welcome no new taxes and the operating surplus, the incentives to grow and propel the private sector are modest," Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said.
