Myki: How to Make the Most of the New 2 Hour Fare

Myki’s 2-hour fare will now last exactly two hours. Yes, for the out-of-towners, a 2 hour ticket used to last you up to 2 hours and 59 minutes. As of Sunday 10 August 2014, a 2 hour ticket will now last exactly 2 hours.

A Typical Myki card

At first glance you would be forgiven for thinking the PTV have come to their senses and removed some absurdity from the system. But from now we will actually have less value for money and possibly more confusion, stress, revenue collection and possibly more inadvertent fare evasion.

Maximise the Value of Your Myki Pass Refund

Don’t you love dealing with companies to get refunds?

Earlier this month my Myki died. (Out-of-towners: Myki is Melbourne’s public transport smartcard ticket system. We use the term “Smartcard” loosely.) In fact it got me to the city but wouldn’t let me go home. Totally dead. All readers at all gates just stared blankly up at me.

Few People Use Online Myki Top-Ups. Well, DUH!

According to this article in today’s Age, only 20% of people use the Myki website to top-up their cards while a measly 6% set up the auto-topup feature. And the operators are surprised!

Even The Shortest Queue Can Be Avoided…

I received an Email from Myki the other day reminding us that we can use the Auto-top-up feature so we’re never caught short with an empty Myki card and therefore help reduce the queues at the myki top-up machines.

The Bat Out of Hell Takes Out Three Train Lines

Can you believe the lack of luck? Yesterday morning the train signalling system died just down from the junction of three of Melbourne busiest train lines. Actually this is a reasonably common occurrence; a small inconvenience that takes a few hours to fix and it’s fine by the following peak.

Myki Tips – Reducing the Touch Off Queues

Myki

Last time I offered some tips for users of the Myki Pass. This time I’ll explore the Myki concept of the Default Fare and how you can take advantage of it to reduce the Touch Off queues and help get everyone, including yourself, off the tram or bus, or out of the train station, more quickly.

Myki Tips – Make the Most of Your Pass

Myki

Myki is Melbourne’s new public transport ticketing system. It is a smart card system similar in intended function to London’s Oyster Card and Hong Kong’s Octopus. It is a smart card system similar in speed to a brick built into the base of your house. No, that’s a little unfair. When the reader actually does read your card it gives you just enough time to read the entire Myki user guide before it’s finished.

A Postscript to Myki

Dear Myki,

On the very day I wrote to you expressing my frustration and disappointment with your performance, the state government announced it decided not to get rid of you after all. This means it’s just you and me kiddo and a million or so other passengers, so we have to learn to live with each other.

A Letter to Myki

Dear Myki,

I tried to like you. I wanted our relationship to work so I give you more chances than you deserved but you’ve disappointed me. At first things worked very well between us, even when you ignored me I was willing to look past that. I was patient but you let me down, Myki. I don’t have the trust in you I expected at this stage of our relationship. It’s been over a year!