Last week I finally got to Wangaratta to try the bank card fare payment trial they’re running on local buses.
When it comes getting new and occasional users onto public transport more often, the most important thing is providing a reliable coherent connected network of frequent 7-day services.
But bank card fare payment isn’t too far behind.
On a system where single use tickets are not generally available (and from an environmental and cost point of view, it’s arguable that they should not be), being able to pay with a card (or phone) you already have in your pocket solves a lot of issues.
This trial started late last year, on local buses in Wangaratta.
The Wang trial
The four local routes (401, 402, 403, 404) are all in the trial, and the standard $3 fare ($6 daily cap) is being used, with only adult fares able to be charged as part of the trial.
Why Wangaratta? Probably because it’s a reasonable-sized town with several bus routes but it’s outside the V/Line Myki zones, and they wanted to test without V/Line fare integration.
The four routes converge on the centre of Wangaratta, terminating outside the museum. I took some quick rides and touched on three buses. There’s no touch off required.
(Fortunately I was there on a weekday, with all routes running every 30 minutes. It would be tricky on a weekend, when the timetables are very infrequent.)
The readers are the same as used in Adelaide, and are bright yellow, easy to spot at the front of the bus, and you touch below the screen. The response time seemed quick and a satisfying double beep sound was played, with a big green tick displayed.
All good.
So was the charging correct?
Initially a $1 authorisation appeared.
Two days later the $1 authorisation was still the only charge.
Eventually after three days, this disappeared and the correct $3 fare was charged.
So in summary: it worked as expected.
Coincidentally the same day I was in Wang, the ABC published this story… and a video version on social media, raising questions about the trial.
What’s being tested?
The concern is around what is actually being tested.
Some requirements for the ticketing system are included, but a lot are not.
Off the top of my head:
| Being tested in Wang | Not being tested |
|---|---|
| Bank card (and phone) payment Back-end fare calculation ($3 two hour fare, $6 daily cap) Transaction sent from buses to back-end system to banks | Myki cards Zones, presumably including location detection Distance-based fares (touch-off) Other modes including V/Line Concessions and free passes Travel history accessible by passengers Weekly caps Ticket inspections |
One source in the ABC story called the trial pointless.
I don’t think that’s quite right – it’s not quite the equivalent of just buying a Square card reader and mounting it in a bus – those wouldn’t be able to handle the 2-hour fares and daily cap.
But at the same time, it does look awfully like they’ve just installed the same card readers from Adelaide into the buses – with the same limitations – one fare type only, a single zone (flat fare), with no concessions.
PTV says:
Weโre testing a few things, including installation of new readers, staff training and operations, use of tap and go payments and back-office and financial reconciliation processes.
What we learn will prepare us for future trials and the progressive rollout of new ticketing features.
I do hope they’re learning things from this trial, especially if – as has been claimed – not many people are using it. (I didn’t see anybody else use it on the buses I caught).
It’s only baby steps, while many other cities already have this mostly working.
Hopefully there’s further progress quickly… and we see upgrades in Melbourne and elsewhere in Victoria soon.
