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Dec. 12th, 2009 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hnpccSo Myki's apparently being rolled out over Christmas, the better to work with fewer patrons around, and definitely fewer ministers available to take the blame on television. Especially given 2010's an election year.
Finally I found a you-beaut Myki FAQ which answered some - but not all - of my questions.
Favourite answers so far:
How much will a myki card cost?
The initial cost may be discounted but soon after a myki card, with no ticket value added to it, will cost $10 (concession $7).
What if I decide I do not want myki once I have bought it?
You can cancel it, but it will cost $9.80.
So you get a 20 cent refund if you get relocated to Sydney. I see a thriving black market, particularly among students, coming on.
Yes I know we're not allowed to onsell - of course not! How could they possibly track who was using it if we did?
But that's OK:
Are there privacy concerns?
The Government says it owns any data, not the private company that runs the system.
Well that makes me feel better. I mean, the Government wouldn't abuse my data now would they?
Won't everyone having to touch off create even more problems on rush-hour services?
Maybe.
Um, try definitely? Which is of course why the government has made it part of the tram operator's contract that inspections will increase on trams by 15% next year.
Which might be a concern to those of us using the tram system given that 10,800 passengers were overcharged during the first months when it was rolled out in regional Victoria. And we all know how caring, sharing and above all forgiving our ticket inspectors are. Got an excuse? They don't care. Machine not working? Tough shit, you should have gotten off and bought another ticket somewhere else or walked.
But there'll be a trial period, right?
Will there be an amnesty on fining people who fail to use myki correctly in its first months?
No.
Oh sorry, forgot. Gotta recoup that 850 million and counting somehow.
I have to say this FAQ still doesn't answer some of my questions. Like, how the hell are tourists going to use this? You seriously reckon they'll fork out $10 for a card they're likely to use once or twice? God I hope there's a cheaper one-trip option somewhere, preferably paper-based. Otherwise I can see the number of backpackers (in particular) being fined going up somewhat exponentially (see also: black market in myki cards), and Melbourne cementing its reputation as a racist, unfriendly city as ticket inspectors start fining and abusing confused and possibly non-English speaking tourists.
Also, what happens if you go to scan off and you don't have enough money on the card and you can't recharge for 24 hours? How does that work exactly? Because I don't think having people sleep out at Flinders St station is exactly the look they were after.
And if you're a commuter like me and you're travelling in and out daily across both zones and you don't scan off - is this really going to cost you more than the "maximum daily fare"? Given it is the maximum fare? Just curious here.
And how do you know you've been overcharged? When you suddenly have no balance? Should you keep a list of every trip you've made and a note of what the reader said? Can I get a receipt for that?
There's also the cost aspect: the new myki will be cheaper initially ($9.92 - not including the $10 card outlay) than buying a daily ticket ($10.60) - but most regular commuters don't buy dailies. They buy weeklies ($9.92 per week day - i.e. exact same as the "cheaper" myki fare) or monthies ($8.45 per week day - cheaper than the myki fare) or even yearlies ($7.53 per weekday assuming 20 days annual leave when they're not using it.) Seriously, I do wonder just how dumb they think commuters are here, or whether we can't actually do basic maths (OK, with a calculator). It's not cheaper going to myki. It's the same or more expensive. Especially with the $10 outlay and the additional risk of being fined because the card didn't register, or being overcharged because the GPS thought you were further out than you were or scanning off didn't work for some reason.
And then you've got the slowed down trams and buses, the crush as people try to get out at suburban stations - yeah it's fine at the main stations where there's more than four scanners total while people get out - but at my station all peak hour trains discharge around 50 people every 10-15 minutes - and there are four scanners, total. It's a crush getting out now when you don't have to do anything, it's going to be complete bollocks when everyone's trying to scan off carefully and make sure the damn thing actually registered. At least in the morning people arrive to catch the trains in dribs and drabs - not all 50 or so people are trying to validate their ticket at the same bloody time.
And the trams - I seriously cannot see how this is going to work. I understand that Oystercard works well in London on the buses, but a PhD student from the office who just returned from there informed me that this is because buses are a flat fare no matter how far/long you're travelling for, which is just not the case with the trams. For starters there are two routes which cover zone 1 and 2 and for seconds there are only about 4 scanners on the whole tram. It's going to be fucking chaos - and what's going to happen, in peak hour at least, is that no one is going to bother scanning because it's too damn hard (and we know the inspectors can't get on because it's too full.)
At least there are a couple of amusing sides to all this. They've employed "myki mates" - people to encourage everyone to take up myki and tell them how great it is. I'll let them do the beta testing - I refuse to use this until they bloody well make me. Which according to Kosky is going to be when 50% of people are using the system - this will undoubtedly change when they realise no one is actually taking up the system and they decide to force us to in about 6 months instead. The other side is that people in Geelong have already worked out how to beat the system and get free rides on the buses. Scan in at the front door, walk to the back of the bus, scan out. Then get off at your stop a lot later. No, I can't see people taking that up in Melbourne at all either.
So last question:
Why is the old system being replaced?
The current ticket system works well but it is getting old and replacement parts are getting hard to source. It might not cope with the number of passengers using paper tickets if patronage keeps booming.
Oh bullshit. You're seriously telling me you can't find replacement parts? NASA has trouble sourcing replacement parts, but their computer systems were introduced in the 1970s. Metcard was introduced in the 1990s. Bullshit they're having trouble finding parts, what a complete crock. Also - they couldn't just make them? I mean there are still workshops and stuff, right?
The system we currently have also had the capacity to be extended to perform a similar way to the myki system - why didn't they just do that?
Oh that's right, it's cheaper. Only:
What will the new ticket system cost to run?
Each year, about $50 million — the same as the current system, despite earlier promises it would be cheaper.
So that was a bit of a waste of money then. Yeah, I know, the system will come in. People will be overcharged, screwed around and fined, and we'll still end up taking it because really, what are the options? I'm slightly too far out to bike, and I really would prefer not to drive (I'm also now not convinced that myki isn't the State government's way of justifying their spending on freeways). I'm really tempted to set up a civil disobedience non-payment campaign though until they get the damn act together and can show it works well though. Apart from anything else, it might be fun.
Finally I found a you-beaut Myki FAQ which answered some - but not all - of my questions.
Favourite answers so far:
How much will a myki card cost?
The initial cost may be discounted but soon after a myki card, with no ticket value added to it, will cost $10 (concession $7).
What if I decide I do not want myki once I have bought it?
You can cancel it, but it will cost $9.80.
So you get a 20 cent refund if you get relocated to Sydney. I see a thriving black market, particularly among students, coming on.
Yes I know we're not allowed to onsell - of course not! How could they possibly track who was using it if we did?
But that's OK:
Are there privacy concerns?
The Government says it owns any data, not the private company that runs the system.
Well that makes me feel better. I mean, the Government wouldn't abuse my data now would they?
Won't everyone having to touch off create even more problems on rush-hour services?
Maybe.
Um, try definitely? Which is of course why the government has made it part of the tram operator's contract that inspections will increase on trams by 15% next year.
Which might be a concern to those of us using the tram system given that 10,800 passengers were overcharged during the first months when it was rolled out in regional Victoria. And we all know how caring, sharing and above all forgiving our ticket inspectors are. Got an excuse? They don't care. Machine not working? Tough shit, you should have gotten off and bought another ticket somewhere else or walked.
But there'll be a trial period, right?
Will there be an amnesty on fining people who fail to use myki correctly in its first months?
No.
Oh sorry, forgot. Gotta recoup that 850 million and counting somehow.
I have to say this FAQ still doesn't answer some of my questions. Like, how the hell are tourists going to use this? You seriously reckon they'll fork out $10 for a card they're likely to use once or twice? God I hope there's a cheaper one-trip option somewhere, preferably paper-based. Otherwise I can see the number of backpackers (in particular) being fined going up somewhat exponentially (see also: black market in myki cards), and Melbourne cementing its reputation as a racist, unfriendly city as ticket inspectors start fining and abusing confused and possibly non-English speaking tourists.
Also, what happens if you go to scan off and you don't have enough money on the card and you can't recharge for 24 hours? How does that work exactly? Because I don't think having people sleep out at Flinders St station is exactly the look they were after.
And if you're a commuter like me and you're travelling in and out daily across both zones and you don't scan off - is this really going to cost you more than the "maximum daily fare"? Given it is the maximum fare? Just curious here.
And how do you know you've been overcharged? When you suddenly have no balance? Should you keep a list of every trip you've made and a note of what the reader said? Can I get a receipt for that?
There's also the cost aspect: the new myki will be cheaper initially ($9.92 - not including the $10 card outlay) than buying a daily ticket ($10.60) - but most regular commuters don't buy dailies. They buy weeklies ($9.92 per week day - i.e. exact same as the "cheaper" myki fare) or monthies ($8.45 per week day - cheaper than the myki fare) or even yearlies ($7.53 per weekday assuming 20 days annual leave when they're not using it.) Seriously, I do wonder just how dumb they think commuters are here, or whether we can't actually do basic maths (OK, with a calculator). It's not cheaper going to myki. It's the same or more expensive. Especially with the $10 outlay and the additional risk of being fined because the card didn't register, or being overcharged because the GPS thought you were further out than you were or scanning off didn't work for some reason.
And then you've got the slowed down trams and buses, the crush as people try to get out at suburban stations - yeah it's fine at the main stations where there's more than four scanners total while people get out - but at my station all peak hour trains discharge around 50 people every 10-15 minutes - and there are four scanners, total. It's a crush getting out now when you don't have to do anything, it's going to be complete bollocks when everyone's trying to scan off carefully and make sure the damn thing actually registered. At least in the morning people arrive to catch the trains in dribs and drabs - not all 50 or so people are trying to validate their ticket at the same bloody time.
And the trams - I seriously cannot see how this is going to work. I understand that Oystercard works well in London on the buses, but a PhD student from the office who just returned from there informed me that this is because buses are a flat fare no matter how far/long you're travelling for, which is just not the case with the trams. For starters there are two routes which cover zone 1 and 2 and for seconds there are only about 4 scanners on the whole tram. It's going to be fucking chaos - and what's going to happen, in peak hour at least, is that no one is going to bother scanning because it's too damn hard (and we know the inspectors can't get on because it's too full.)
At least there are a couple of amusing sides to all this. They've employed "myki mates" - people to encourage everyone to take up myki and tell them how great it is. I'll let them do the beta testing - I refuse to use this until they bloody well make me. Which according to Kosky is going to be when 50% of people are using the system - this will undoubtedly change when they realise no one is actually taking up the system and they decide to force us to in about 6 months instead. The other side is that people in Geelong have already worked out how to beat the system and get free rides on the buses. Scan in at the front door, walk to the back of the bus, scan out. Then get off at your stop a lot later. No, I can't see people taking that up in Melbourne at all either.
So last question:
Why is the old system being replaced?
The current ticket system works well but it is getting old and replacement parts are getting hard to source. It might not cope with the number of passengers using paper tickets if patronage keeps booming.
Oh bullshit. You're seriously telling me you can't find replacement parts? NASA has trouble sourcing replacement parts, but their computer systems were introduced in the 1970s. Metcard was introduced in the 1990s. Bullshit they're having trouble finding parts, what a complete crock. Also - they couldn't just make them? I mean there are still workshops and stuff, right?
The system we currently have also had the capacity to be extended to perform a similar way to the myki system - why didn't they just do that?
Oh that's right, it's cheaper. Only:
What will the new ticket system cost to run?
Each year, about $50 million — the same as the current system, despite earlier promises it would be cheaper.
So that was a bit of a waste of money then. Yeah, I know, the system will come in. People will be overcharged, screwed around and fined, and we'll still end up taking it because really, what are the options? I'm slightly too far out to bike, and I really would prefer not to drive (I'm also now not convinced that myki isn't the State government's way of justifying their spending on freeways). I'm really tempted to set up a civil disobedience non-payment campaign though until they get the damn act together and can show it works well though. Apart from anything else, it might be fun.
