Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris has been accused of using passenger boarding data to spruik the success of the new public transport network, which by design requires users to tap on more often.
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However a spokeswoman for the minister said the numbers are at a record-high regardless of the way you cut the data.
In a statement on Thursday, Ms Fitzharris said "passengers were voting with their feet" in favour of the new network, with MyWay passenger boardings cracking 90,000 in one day for the first time on Tuesday.
But Canberra Liberal's transport spokeswoman Candice Burch said the figures were "fabricated", as users had to change service more often under the redesigned network.
"Under the old network if you had a direct bus service that would be counted as one trip. Now it might be that you have to get two buses to work, you might have to get a bus, light rail and then another bus or you might have to get three buses to get to work," Ms Burch said.
"There needs to be much more transparency around the data the government is releasing."
However Ms Fitzharris' spokeswoman said preliminary data was showing people were making around the same number of interchanges as in the old network.
"Passengers transferred under the old network and they transfer in the new network. Some customers will now need to transfer while others, for example travelling from Belconnen to Barton or Russell, now have one direct Rapid service," she said.
Despite this, she said Tuesday and Wednesday also were the highest recorded days for passenger journeys - which includes transfers - with 66,772 and 67,266 journeys respectively.
"Whichever way you cut the numbers, there is record patronage on Canberra's public transport network," she said.
"Indeed, these numbers are all conservative because they do not take into account paper tickets from vending machines or people forgetting to tap on during the month of free travel."
However parents and educators are still concerned about students having to navigate interchanges, when they previously had dedicated school buses.
Canberra Girls Grammar principal Anna Owen said at least one of her students had been approached by a stranger this week while waiting for a bus, and she wanted "absolute clarity" from Transport Canberra about their procedures for managing children at these pinch-points.
"We're really excited about the new community transport network in general ... but we have concerns about when students are transitioning or required to wait in an area that it's well lit, there's a presence there and they're not required to wait there for too long," she said.
"At school we look after these students and then when they leave us we need to ensure they get home safely."
The government spokeswoman said there had been an increase of 10 per cent in the number of students travelling on the network, compared with term two last year.
"We know the new network is an adjustment for some existing commuters," she said.
"There will be a period of transition as everyone gets used to the new system, and we are working hard to inform people about the changes and reviewing how the network is performing on a daily basis."
Separately, footage has emerged of a Canberra school student clinging to the back of a moving bus on Wednesday afternoon.
A government spokeswoman said the act was "extremely dangerous" and Transport Canberra would follow up with the school.
