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November 18th, 2009 (Melbourne metro)

Updated January 2012

As Metcard begins to get shut down and replaced with the Myki system, more and more people want to know answers to basic questions, such as how much they will get charged when they travel.

This web page is an effort to help people understand how the system will work, and answer the questions we’ve been getting about it.

When will it start in Melbourne?

Myki has been running on regional town buses in Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour and some areas of Gippsland since early-mid 2009. It is also valid for suburban trips on V/Line within Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.

Since 29/12/2009, Myki is running on trains (including V/Line services) in zone 1 and 2.

From 25/7/2010, Myki is also valid on trams and buses in zone 1 and 2.

As-of 2012, most of the major problems with Myki appear to have been ironed out, though minor glitches remain. The Coalition government had suspended the further rollout pending a full investigation of options, and in July 2011 eventually announced the system would be kept. The slow rollout meant that there were limited opportunities for topping-up cards (especially for tram and bus users), and few staff (Myki Mates) to help people switch, which has led to a slow transition.

During 2012 Metcards will be steadily phased-out. More retailers (including 7-Elevens) will sell cards and offer top-up facilities, and Myki vending machines will sell cards. Eventually buses will offer top-up. Metcards are expected to be phased-out by the end of 2012.

It’s unknown when it will start on V/Line services beyond zone 2; we expect this to be after Metcard has been phased-out.

How do the fares work under Myki?

In most cases, Melbourne fares are the same as under Metcard.

Short term tickets (for occasional users such as tourists) were to have replaced the single-use 2-hour and Daily Metcards, but the government has now announced these will not be introduced in Melbourne.

If using Myki, you get discounted fares based on the 10×2 hour Metcards/5x Daily/Weekend Saver/Sunday Saver/Seniors Daily/Earlybird (known as Myki Money) or weekly/monthly/yearly fares (known as Myki Pass).

How will short term tickets work?

This is the option if you don’t want to buy a Myki, but are currently only available in some regional cities (and will be phased-out at some stage).

The government has announced these will NOT be used in Melbourne. Once Metcard is phased-out, you will have to have a reusable Myki card to travel.

How does Myki Money work?

You buy a re-usable Myki card and load money onto it.

As you travel, you touch-on and touch-off, and the system will charge you as you go.

The fares are the equivalent to using a 10×2 hour, or 5x Daily Metcard (see Myki Money prices at the Metlink web site).

Zones	1	2	1 and 2
2-hour	$3.28	$2.26	$5.54
Daily	$6.56	$4.52	$11.08

Concession fares are 50% of the above prices. Discounts (eg Earlybird free travel on trains before 7am*; Weekend Daily Saver $3.30, no concession) apply to Myki Money.

The same rules apply as with Metcard: the 2 hours starts from the next full hour. After 6pm, the 2 hour fare applies until the end of the day (3am).

A “daily cap” will apply: if you make multiple trips in one day, the system will charge you a maximum of two 2-hour segments, eg the Daily fare. If your travel is valid for the Weekend Saver daily fare, then it will charge you a maximum of $3.30 per day (Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays). If you’re a Senior, your travel on a day will be capped at the Seniors Daily rate, and so on.

*There is actually a 15 minute grace period to allow for late trains, so Myki gives you free Earlybird travel on trains if you touch-on and touch-off by 7:15am.

How does Myki Pass work?

You will buy a re-usable Myki card and load a “pass” onto it — for 7 days, or anything from 28 to 365 days, for the zone(s) you want. These are consecutive days, just like with a Metcard Weekly or Monthly or Yearly.

The prices are almost identical to Metcard prices, with some minor exceptions, for example the price for a month is slightly different because it is based on a particular number of days, not on a calendar month (where the number of days varies).

Zones	1	2	1 and 2
7 days	$32.80	$22.60	$55.40
30 days	$120.60	$80.40	$186.60
365 days*	$1306.50*	$871.00*	$2021.50*

Concession fares are 50% of the above prices. We’ve shown the 30 and 365 day prices above, but you can buy anything from 28 to 365 days. For full pricing details see the Metlink web site, or the Myki Fares and Ticketing Manual — refer to the Amendments effective 1 January 2012.

*Note that discounted Yearly tickets are available via PTUA Commuter Club, saving you about 9% off the 365 day fare above. These are specially coded Myki cards, provided free with the discounted Yearly fare.

Can I combine Myki Pass and Myki Money?

Yes, you can have a single Myki card which has a Pass for your usual zone(s), and Money loaded as well for occasional trips into other zones (including V/Line, once Myki is working there, and some regional town buses).

What about V/Line fares?

Myki is currently only available for V/Line travel between Melbourne and zone 2 stations, and for trips within Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.

As-of early 2012, it is expected that V/Line commuter-belt train services (eg as far as Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour and Traralgon) will be added to Myki after Metcard has been shutdown in Melbourne. It is unclear if long-distance V/Line trains and V/Line coach services will be included in Myki as was originally planned.

V/Line fares will be roughly the same as now (though it’s not clear what options will be provided for single use tickets), but based on a fare zone system. Fares will be a little bit cheaper on Myki Money. For full pricing details see the table on page 59 of the Myki Fares and Ticketing Manual — refer to the Amendments effective 1 January 2012. Note that an off-peak discount of 30% applies to V/Line Myki Money fares — and this includes all long distance services, which are timetabled to arrive/depart Melbourne outside peak times.

V/Line fares will include travel on Melbourne services and the regional town buses where Myki operates, in the same way that applies now.

Eventually, regular V/Line users will be able to use a Myki Pass, for cheaper travel, for 7 days, or 28-365 days, the same as Melbourne users.

How do I touch-on and touch-off?

Touching-on and touching-off is how the system will know what to charge you.

You touch-on the ticket at a reader as you enter the station, or board the tram or bus.

You touch-off the ticket at a reader as you leave the station, or leave the tram (optional) or bus.

Response times are a little inconsistent — we’ve seen some readers respond in under a second, but others that are slower. Hopefully they’ll all be responding quickly once the system is fully running.

How close to I have to be for the machines to detect my card? Will it work through a wallet?

We’ve found the card has to be within about half-a-centimetre of the reader, but preferably touching it.

Sometimes it’ll work from within a wallet, especially if the Myki ticket is in the closest pocket, but this isn’t guaranteed. Also it may not work if you have other cards of a similar technology (RFID chip) in your wallet which may confuse the reader.

For best results, you need to touch the ticket flat on the reader. Don’t “swipe” it, or wave it around, it’ll just take longer.

Why does the information on the reader display vanish so fast?

The information (showing your card balance) will be displayed for as long as you hold your card to the reader. Hold the card up for longer if you want to check the information. Or you can use a Myki vending machine or Myki Check (blue) machine to check the status of your card.

Is it going to slow things down?

Probably in some cases. Station exits during evening peak may become congested as a train-load of people queue to touch-off. The TTA has recently added readers and even widened some station exits to help cope.

Buses may benefit from faster boarding times, since a Myki should be faster to touch-on than a Metcard is to validate, but it may be slower at stops where a lot of passengers need to touch-off as they alight. No single use ticket option is also likely to speed up bus operations, at the expense of occasional users who may have difficulties paying.

To avoid delays on trams they’ve made touching-off optional. If you don’t touch-off, you’ll get charged the zone 1 fare. You still need to touch-off if you’ve travelled entirely within the zone 1/2 overlap section, and want the cheaper zone 2 fare.

Whether delays occur may depend on how fast the readers are, and how many there are, but it’s notable that London’s buses and trams switched to flat fares, with no touch-off, to avoid these problems.

My station doesn’t have enough machines/scanners.

At some stations not all of the machines have been installed yet, as the Metcard equipment is in the best spot for them, so some Myki equipment won’t go in until later.

When Myki commenced on metropolitan trains, some stations had no Myki vending machines at all. The TTA has been steadily installing them, and now all metropolitan stations have at least one machine.

Do I get charged for another 2-hours if I touch-off after the expiry time?

No. Under both Myki and Metcard, your ticket is valid as long as you start your trip (that is, enter the station, or board the tram or bus) before the expiry time.

Do I really need to touch-off?

Except on trams, the official line is yes. If you don’t touch-off, you may get charged a default fare, which may be more than you’d otherwise pay.

The default fare is when the system doesn’t know where you got off the train/tram/bus, and it assumes you went to the end of the line (on a tram/bus) or to the last stop of the longest line on the system (metropolitan trains).

In other words if you don’t touch-off, on buses and trains the Myki system may assume you took a two-zone trip, and charge you for it. If this is the correct fare anyway (for instance you’ve travelled on a train from the CBD to a zone two station) then you will not be charged anything extra if you do not touch-off, and may choose not to bother.

On trams, touching-off is optional — the default fare is a zone 1 fare, which is correct in most cases. (You need to touch on and off if travelling entirely within the zone 1/2 overlap if you want the cheaper zone 2 fare.)

And the default fare does not apply to Myki Pass when you touched-on (started your journey) in your usual zone. In other words, if you have a weekly/monthly/yearly Pass on your Myki card, you do not need to touch-off when travelling in the zone(s) covered by the Pass.

The government says they’ll get more useful statistics about passenger use if people touch-on and touch-off every time. Then again, they get some quite useful boarding statistics with the old Metcard system, and through manual surveys, and that hasn’t stopped services getting very crowded due to a lack of forward planning and investment over the past few years.

Do I really need to touch-on every time?

Officially, yes, you need to touch-on every time to ensure your ticket is valid for travel.

In reality it will be similar to Metcard: you have to validate/touch-on the first time you use a ticket to set its expiry date/time. Not doing so is fare evasion.

You also need to do so (even if your ticket is already valid) when boarding buses, so the bus driver knows you have a valid ticket, and when boarding at railway stations if your destination is a gated station, otherwise the gates may not let you out and you may have to queue for staff assistance.

And you’ll need to touch-on and touch-off if you end up travelling outside the zone(s) you have paid for on a Myki Pass or that isn’t already paid for with Myki Money.

But if you are using a Myki Pass entirely within the zone(s) you have paid for, using only trams and non-gated stations, as under Metcard, we don’t expect you would be fined for not touching-on, since you are not fare evading. But there are no guarantees, since the government hasn’t made an official statement to that effect.

I heard weekly/monthly/yearly passes won’t be valid on weekends.

No, not true.

They will be valid on weekends, but only for the zones you’ve paid for.

Currently a single-zone weekly/monthly/yearly Metcard is valid in both Melbourne zones on Saturdays and Sundays. This benefit is being withdrawn when Myki comes in. (The government argues it’s for consistency with regional areas, but oddly, no regional areas have the $3.30 weekend daily fare offered in Melbourne.)

So Myki Pass users will pay extra if they go into another zone. But it will be capped at the $3.30 weekend/public holiday cap, and what they’ve already paid towards that will be taken into account.

For instance, for Zone 1 Myki Pass users (full fare) travelling into Zone 2, you will pay 2 cents (the $3.30 weekend fare, minus the $3.28 cost of a zone 1 2-hour fare).

Will Myki Money always give me the best fare?

Provided everything works correctly, it will give you the best daily fare, by charging you the cheapest possible fare for each trip, and upgrading it automatically, for instance from a 2-hour Zone 1, to a Daily Zone 1+2 — whatever’s cheapest for your day’s travel.

But if you use it every day, it will not upgrade you to a 7-day pass or a 30-day pass etc if that is cheaper. These have to be pre-loaded.

How much will getting a Myki card cost?

From January 2012 the cost of a card has been reduced to $6 full fare, or $3 concession. There was a special offer of free cards in January 2010. Despite the government saying at the time that this would be repeated, it seems doubtful that it will be.

Sunday Pass holders (such as Seniors) will be sent a Myki by the government to replace their existing Sunday Pass.

Note that Myki vending machines will only have full fare cards available. Concession cards will only be available from staffed railway stations, retail outlets and online.

More information on where to get a Myki card.

I heard you may have to pay extra if the train is late.

No not trains, but you may be affected if you use 2-hour fares and catch trams and buses.

Under both Myki and Metcard, your ticket is valid as long as you start your trip (that is, enter the station, or board the tram or bus) before the ticket expires.

Under Metcard, if your service is delayed or cancelled, you can still make your trip, even if it means boarding after the expiry time. This benefit is being removed under Myki. It’s an issue only on trams and buses, where you validate (touch-on) as you board, since on trains you would have already entered the platform and validated before the expiry time, no matter how late the train is.

If you were paying for travel all day anyway, then it will make no difference to you, but if you were trying to make a couple of short trips in a single 2-hour period, with no other travel that day, you will have to pay again if the bus or tram arrives late, after your 2-hours has expired.

Does my card balance expire after 90 days?

No.

However, if you top-up your card from the web site, and do not “collect” the money onto your card (eg touch your card on a reader, or check the balance at a vending machine) within 90 days, the system may “archive” the top-up, meaning it may not be there for you.

When you eventually use your card on the system again (touch it at a reader, or use it at a vending machine) it will re-activate your online top-up, sending it again out to readers and vending machines so you can “collect” it onto the card.

Isn’t Myki switching us to distance-based fares?

No.

Hong Kong and Singapore and some other cities use fares based on how many kilometres you travel.

Myki does not include this change. The fares will remain almost identical to those under Metcard, based on the zones (which will now spread across Victoria) and time (2-hour, daily, etc).

The PTUA believes that distance-based charging has a number of disadvantages: they may lead to higher fares, and it is quite confusing, as you never know how much you’ll be charged before you travel.

How will inspectors and V/Line conductors check tickets?

There is little or no information printed on the tickets themselves. Authorised Officers (inspectors), V/Line conductors and coach drivers will use handheld devices that can read the cards.

Will Myki be able to track my movements?

Myki cardholders will be able to choose to register their cards, or not, as they choose. If they do register, this provides protection against theft if the card goes missing, as you can report the loss and have it deactivated, and you can set the card to automatically topup money from your bank account.

But unregistered cards still get access to the same fares, and it is possible to get a card completely anonmyously over-the-counter (and from Myki vending machines, commencing in early-2012).

The Transport Ticketing Authority has published a privacy policy which goes into some detail about when they might provide travel data to authorities. You can read it here.

When will Metcard be switched-off?

During 2012 the government is progressively shutting off the Metcard system.

From January 2012, Yearly Metcards are no longer available. From 26 March 2012, Monthly and Weekly Metcards will no longer available. Following this, 10×2 hour and other “value” Metcards will become unavailable.

During early-mid 2012, Metcard machines will start to be removed from railway stations and replaced with Myki machines.

By late-2012, it will be difficult to buy Metcards, and those still holding them will be encouraged to use them up. Around the end of 2012 the remaining Metcard equipment will be shut down and removed.

I have unused Metcards. What should I do with them?

The official line is that you should use them all up before the Metcard system gets turned off (eg the end of 2012).

You can get a refund at any time for them, less a $9.80 administration fee.

Given past experience with the phase-out of scratch tickets in 2002, we would expect that at some point you will be able to get a refund without the $9.80 fee, so keep an eye out for announcements on this, but obviously the easiest thing to do is to use all of them up.

Will Myki all work properly?

There were a number of problems in the regional towns, as well as in Melbourne, during the early days of Myki. However many of the problems seen in 2009 and 2010 have now been rectified. Some of the remaining issues are caused by the Myki and Metcard equipment having to co-exist.

When switching, you may wish to initially watch the system very carefully to ensure you’re being charged correctly. Keep a close eye on the scanners as you use them, check your transactions on the Myki Check machines (blue machines in stations) at vending machines and/or via the Myki web site, and ring 13 MYKI or contact Myki online if you suspect you have been overcharged.

The PTUA has flagged a number of design and implementation issues with Myki that should be fixed, and we are continuing to offer feedback to the TTA.

The biggest single issue is likely to be that the government has decided the system will not offer a single-use ticket, meaning all public transport users must get a Myki card to pay their fare. This will make life difficult for new and occasional users once Metcard has been removed.

Should I use Myki?

The push from Metcard to Myki is now on in earnest, and as Metcards get withdrawn from sale, you will have to switch.

Myki is now valid on all Melbourne services, and most major issues have been fixed, though as-of early 2012, there are still limited opportunities for topping-up cards (especially for tram and bus users).

The best time to switch is the point at which your usual railway station or tram/bus services start replacing their Metcard equipment with Myki equipment. At that point, there will be more facilities to topup cards, local staff will be able to assist, and Myki Mates will be deployed to help people make the transition. This will happen during 2012.

Was it worth the money?

Probably not. While the Myki system will bring some benefits, including better access to cheap fares, these are eclipsed by the huge cost of the system. Few passengers wanted a new ticket system, and we had argued that for a fraction of the cost, the Metcard system could have been updated (or a cheaper Smartcard system procured from elsewhere), and the rest of the money spent on more staff, trains, trams and buses.

But the equipment’s all here now, and much of the money’s been spent, so we’re providing feedback to the Transport Ticketing Authority to try and improve the end outcome for passengers.

Will the PTUA’s Commuter Club discounted Yearly ticket scheme continue under Myki?

Yes — PTUA members who are regular public transport users can buy discounted Yearly tickets, at about 9% off the retail price, and it includes a free Myki.

You can see full details of the offer here.

Commuter Club is also available via some employers.

Further questions?

Email:

with your questions, and we’ll endeavour to find out the answers and post them back here.

If you want to read all the fineprint yourself, it’s contained in the Myki Fares and Ticketing Manual (be warned, it’s over 100 pages, not for the fainthearted).

The Transport Ticketing Authority has posted some useful information on the official Myki web site, which you can read here.

You can also ring them for information, on 13-MYKI (13 6954).

And you can visit the Myki Discovery Centre at Southern Cross Station to get assistance.

Who is the PTUA anyway?

Founded in 1976, the Public Transport Users Association is the recognised consumer organisation representing passengers of all forms of public transport. We are a non-profit, voluntary organisation, with no political affiliations.

If you want to help support our work, please join us. You get 5 newsletters per year, access to cheap Yearly tickets, and you’ll be helping the campaign for better public transport in Melbourne and around Victoria.