Why is Wellington still waiting for a universal public transport smartcard?

Wellington is crying out for a transport game-changer. So why are its officials dragging the chain on a solution that has been sitting under their noses for years? It's bordering on farcical that commuters across the Wellington region still don't have an electronic smartcard they can use to pay and transfer seamlessly across all trains, buses and ferries. We're not talking alien technology here. Commuters in Sydney, Melbourne, London, New York, Hong Kong and Vancouver (to name just a few) all carry such magical cards in their wallets. My God, even the transport quagmire that is Auckland has figured this one out.