myki: a classic case of computerised incompetence

Sam Varghese
Wednesday, 24 August 2011 12:06

Business IT - Technology

COMMENT Every major city in a developed country has a smartcard for use on its public transport system. Indeed, if one were to raise the question of whether such a system exists in a given city, one would be looked at askance.

But what about Melbourne, reportedly one of the most liveable cities on the face of Mother Earth? We have a mish-mash of a system called Metcard (a paper ticket with an electronic strip that is said to be on the way out - most sensible people still use it to prevent themselves from going crazy) and a smartcard that is in the process of being eased in. The latter has, so far, cost the taxpayer close to $1.5 billion.

No, dear reader, that wasn't a typo, I did not mean million. The figure is indeed above a billion dollars.

Melbourne is great when it comes to innovation. So great that the authorities did not think it was a good idea to purchase a tried and tested system. No, they wanted their own, with its own unique name (lower-case a la e.e. cummings) to indicate that we are indeed a bunch of intelligent folk.

After all, who would even consider a silly name like Oyster? Forget about the fact that it works. Forget about the fact that Brisbane, a much smaller city than Melbourne, one that often earns ridicule from Melburnians, has an excellent smartcard simply called the Go Card - which again works brilliantly.

No, Melbourne is unique. We must have our own. Never mind if it is a mess, it is after all a mess of our own making.

The technology which is powering the myki does strange things. You can travel to the city from where I live and see the system deduct $5.10 for your trip. You can break that trip into two and see the system deduct $2.08 and $0.92 respectively for the two legs. That's logic of a very high kind, special to the myki and probably to Melbourne too.

The myki needs to be touched on the reader both when you board and get off the bus or train. It takes at least three or four seconds for the card to be read. Luckily few people are using it - else at office times there would be a huge murmur of discontent and buses would always run late.

You can (purposely or genuinely) forget to touch your myki to the reader as you leave the bus. On your next trip, when you touch the myki to the reader, you'll find that the charge deducted for the previous day's trip is less than what it normally is.

And then there's more... but for that, gentle reader, you need to stay with me on a tortuous trip till the end.