I was an early adopter of Myki, if only to see the problems it’s had first hand. But since I started using it, I’ve still carried a Metcard in my wallet. The last Metcard. A 10×2 hour zone 2, for my occasional forays into zone 2 — used on days I was only going into ... [More]
It appears I was the first person to successfully use the Myki vending machine at Bentleigh station, back on the first of last year. Hardly surprising as few people in Melbourne had a card at that point. And this afternoon I got Sales Transaction ID number 3370, when I dumped a bunch of change onto ... [More]
Two weeks ago I noted that Myki mostly works. In most cases the charging is fine. The readers seem more reliable and mostly fairly responsive (and faster than inserting a Metcard into a slot and waiting for it to come out again). What doesn’t work? Well buses in particular have issues, it seems. As this ... [More]
Further to the post on whether Myki should be scrapped or not and taking the lead from others online, here’s a quick video of my interactions with Myki over the past 24 hours. I missed a couple: the touch-on on the bus because I had to run for it and didn’t have time to get ... [More]
It’s a year today since Myki was switched-on in Melbourne. There were a lot of problems on day one, and many others have been highlighted in the last twelve months. In today’s Herald Sun, Paul Mees argues Myki should be scrapped and replaced with a system from elsewhere, such as Perth’s SmartRider. I argue that ... [More]
Well, this thing I’m driving is about as big as a bus, so I thought I could park in the bus stop. Obviously it would have been too hard to move forward a couple of metres into the perfectly legal parking spot just ahead. I guess I could have knocked on the window and asked ... [More]
Herald Sun: Melbourne commuters take free ride with myki card fault About 30 myki users have been affected by a particular fault that has allowed them free travel. Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen has been travelling free for at least a week. Kamco became aware of the problem only when Mr Bowen reported ... [More]
Occasional commenter Peter from Murrumbeena has sent me this video of Myki short term tickets setting off a shop alarm. Apparently it relates to the RFID technology used in the tickets. When a number are placed in close proximity, they look to the shop alarm like the tag attached to protected goods, setting off the ... [More]
The Myki mantra of “touch-on, touch-off” will reach fever-pitch as it gets pushed across the PT network. And people will say it’s a hassle. Which it is. The touch is (if everything works okay) quicker and easier than inserting a Metcard into a slot, but having to do it twice per trip negates that somewhat. ... [More]
A journo mentioned a certain MP this morning was quoting some transport-related sections my blog — presumably the favourable ones, such as the post that talked about the Myki transition plan. While my posts here do not necessarily represent PTUA policy, I suppose this blog is part of the mix of being an advocate — ... [More]
The government announced today that Myki will be valid on trams and buses from Sunday. Finally, Myki goes multi-modal in Melbourne! Assuming they stick to the rollout plan they had last year, which was pretty logical, it’ll go like this: (Graphic originally from the Myki web site. Taken down but re-posted via Whirlpool by Mathew.) ... [More]
Herald Sun: EXCLUSIVE: THOUSANDS of city commuters will be hit with big fare increases to pave the way for the myki smartcard. … The decision to dump city saver fares will mean most myki tram users only have to swipe the card once – when they enter a tram. Hallelujah! Touch-off on trams was never ... [More]