We need integrated ticketing, instead we get Myki

David Heath
Tuesday, 29 December 2009 06:15

Opinion and Analysis

Today's press very clearly makes the point that political promises are far more important in the roll-out of a major project than any kind of completion schedule.

My first comment to Minister Kosky: we would strongly prefer you delivered us a working system, not a completed promise; a ticked box.

Myki is more than two years late and at least $350M over budget.

Today we hear that our wonderful new integrated ticketing system will be rolled out in the next couple of days on trains only, leaving multi-mode travellers very much in the dark as to how they are expected to use the system.

The primary problem with the busses and trams is that they are mobile platforms – the readers are required to communicate to the central computers via a wireless interface, whereas the trains all use fixed readers on the platforms.  According to The Age article scan-on / scan-off transactions are taking around 4 or 5 seconds instead of the required 1 second.

Reports suggest that a firmware update was successfully delivered to the fixed-wired terminals (train stations) but failed for the mobile platforms.

In addition, according to the Myki website "Note: myki machines will be on trams. You will be able to top up myki money (maximum $20) and buy short term tickets onboard trams."  The last time I travelled on a tram, there was a hulking great Metcard ticket machine, and no room for a Myki machine.  This suggests that there will have to be a midnight swap-over on every tram in the fleet to enable Myki.  Good luck with that!