More on Myki (from a user perspective)
While adrock2xander’s comment on myki is certainly true at some point. I am just glad they finally decide to introduce this new ticketing system. Here are a few reason:
- I hate the paper tickets. It is too freaking fragile and too easy to lose.
- I hate keeping so many different but identical metcards in my purse, having one card really makes life much easier, at least it eliminates the accident of validating the wrong card. e.g. using a zone 1+2 card by accident while all I need is only a zone 1 validation.
- I hate spend minutes to look for my metcard when the ticket inspectors demand to look at my metcard. I have got my ticket, is just your metcard is fu*king too hard to be seen in my purse! (The fact I am an international student and an Asian does NOT automatically translates to “I don’t pay for my ride”, so just bugger off!) Having the touchcard means the ticket inspector can check the ticket without actually seeing the myki, I could just put my purse on top of the ticket checking machine and save us both some time.
Technorati Tags: metcard, myki, public transport, ticket, touch card
4. No more coins, I don’t have to ask for change from strangers on the train anymore!
5. Do you realize the more time they spend on testing the myki, the more money they waste. I am just glad they finally decide to stop wasting more money. For god’s sake, those validating machines for the touchcard has been there years already! If I remember correctly, Hong Kong (one of the pioneer that introduce touchcard system to public transportation) didn’t even spend that much time testing it.
However, I also have a few concerns:
1. How much are they gonna charge for it? Hong Kong’s Octopus charges approximately A$10 as a deposit, I wonder how much is the ticketing authority in Melbourne gonna charge for it. If it is too expensive, people will just resent it.
2. As adrock2xander have said, the myki system won’t stop the fare evaders, because whether validating the ticket or not is still up to the customers’ choice. When the myki is introduced, the ticket inspectors will have to carry a ticket checking machine with them, I am just sorry for the extra weight they have to carry.
3. The fare system in Melbourne is very complicated, I am wondering will the card be so smart to calculate for the right fare everytime. More, how about the Sunday Saver offer? Will it be terminated after the myki is introduced?
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I, for one, am thrilled that they’re introducing the myki. I think half the reason why people don’t validate/buy tickets/etc (apart from the money) is that it’s just plain annoying and an inconvenience.
Will it solve the system’s problems? Hell no, but I think it’ll help. I did a two-year stint in Hong Kong and as much as I loved coming back home, I wanted to take their ticketing system back here, too.
I was talking to a guy at a party who was a software developer for the company making the new system. This was in December 2004, and they’d already been working on it for a few years! I just assumed it wasn’t going to happen …
Great. Myki is finally mentioned in metblogs. BTW, I have waited for a decade for a smart card ticketing system in Melbourne.
For people who buy monthly or yearly tickets it will be great. Those tickets start to get very fragile after a month. Actually I would buy a yearly ticket if it was not for the fear of losing it or it crumbling away after 3 months.
Bring on the smart card!