One of the selling points of Myki is that ‘Myki Money’ will charge you the best daily fare, if you touch-on and touch-off on every trip. It turns out not to be always true. There’s at least one specific set of circumstances where it doesn’t. The PTUA got asked a while back about travel around ... [More]
Tag: Myki
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Which is cheapest?
If you buy daily tickets (currently available as Metcard only), the per weekday cost is Zone 1 $6.80, Zone 2 $4.80, Zone 1+2 $10.60. Obviously there’s no reason to do this on a regular basis, since you can save a substantial amount of money by using the bulk fare options. But which one? That is, if you usually travel by ... [More]
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What was yesterday?
Yesterday was the 5th of April. It was Easter Monday, a public holiday in Victoria. Most businesses were closed. When it comes to the shops, it looked like a Sunday: most smaller ones closed, most bigger ones open. (Not like Good Friday and Easter Sunday when everything’s closed.) Schools were all closed, but they’re in ... [More]
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Using Myki from within a wallet
For $1.35 billion, you’d hope there would be some benefits to Myki. Here’s one: if you take a little care, it can be used from within a wallet. So you need never take it out, unless an inspector needs to see it. At least once this has enabled me to validate and jump on a ... [More]
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Day 16 and still waiting
I’ve got a spare Myki card that I’m testing online topups with. $1 at a time, to see how long they take to come through. How it should work is this: You make a payment via the web site The web site and central database sends out a message to all the Myki vending machines ... [More]
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Myki short term tickets
My aunt and cousin are visiting from interstate. Over dinner last night they were telling me that the most confusing thing about Metcard is the requirement to validate it straight after buying it at a railway station machine. I saw a businessman (evidently an occasional user) make that mistake yesterday morning. He realised after walking ... [More]
My view, as I’ve expressed before, is that healthy debate is important, but it relies on the participants sticking to the facts, and not just making things up. Otherwise you get stuff like this, which concerns a Bacchus Marsh resident who apparently misinterpreted what he read and contacted Leader (newspapers) with concerns about seniors ticket ... [More]
COMMUTERS are ignoring Government advice and are using myki cards on trams as well as trains. … (Jean Ker Walsh said) ”Myki equipment on trams is turned on for use by testers and system auditors,” she said. ”Everyone else on the tram should have a valid Metcard.” — The Age, Caution urged for travellers who ... [More]
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Being a Myki guinea-pig
So here’s what I’ve found while trying out Myki in the last week or two. On the day it was announced it was being switched-on for trains, I ordered cards for my kids. (I should note that I still recommend the general public do not use it, unless they’re looking for trouble. Me? I am ... [More]
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These things aren’t cheap
Here’s an inconvenient truth of ticketing: Installing brand new smartcard systems, even established ones from elsewhere, is perhaps not as cheap as one might think. Some have said instead of developing Myki, Victoria should have bought an existing system like Hong Kong’s Octopus, or London’s Oyster. The government (TTA) claim you can’t do this. But ... [More]
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Myki has arrived
Myki has arrived in Melbourne. Kind of. The government announced yesterday it is now valid for travel on trains only, so if that’s the third of the PT system that you use, and you never get on a tram or bus, you can use it. I gave it a spin yesterday afternoon. Here’s what happened. ... [More]
Massive billboards to remind us about how great the government is? It’s part of the plan. That’s Richmond Station; there’s others at South Yarra and Malvern and no doubt elsewhere. Mind you, the first of the new trains apparently hasn’t actually made it into service yet. It’s a bit like Myki. Lucky they’re not putting ... [More]