Re: Ticket Machines on Melbourne Trams

[Michael Walker <walker@hotkey.net.au>]

Daniel Bowen wrote:
> 
> Michael Walker <walker@hotkey.net.au> wrote:
> >Whilst on the topic of our new wonderful, improved, out of sight
> >ticketing system - A few things of interest.
> >1. Upon starting my new job in Canterbury yesterday, I notice that
> >Canterbury station as yet does not have their machines turned on. Does
> >anybody know if any other station between Box Hill and Camberwell (these
> >two excepted as they both obviously do) does?
> 
> Last time I looked, no.
> And the Canterbury machine must have only just been replaced - for a while it
> looked like someone had attacked it with some kind of firey weapon! - it was all
> blackened and useless!
> 
> I can only presume that they do the stations in stages because they need all
> those red-jacketed people to help people with the machines!
>

These machines looked quite OK both the two on the island platform and
the one on platform 3.

> >2. A quirk in the interim system I noticed is in relation to the fact
> >that the cards are not validated with an expiry time/date is that it
> >would be relatively easy to fare evade. eg Yesterday in order to see how
> >good the system is, I purposely only bought a 2 hour ticket in the
> >morning on the 293 bus and then on the journey home, I bought a weekly
> >Zone 2 ticket from Box Hill (as Canterbury wasn't staffed and machines
> >not on). I then caught the 293 home and again the next morning and the
> >first the system knew of my ticket was the validator at Box Hill. Now I
> >wasn't fare evading as if you buy monthlys/weeklys after 3pm, they are
> >stamped for the next day but it did give me a thought...
> 
> Yep, route 293 does not have ATM.
> According to the conditions in the MetCard brochures, any unvalidated ticket is
> NOT valid on any non-ATM service. Obviously the bus drivers don't know this.
> 
> If it doesn't have an actual expiry date (as opposed to a purchase date), it's
> not valid.
> 
How stupid - I would happily have bought a ticket at Canterbury,
validated it at the validator and validated it leaving Box Hill - except
that the machines at Canterbury weren't going and there was no staff to
sell me a ticket and no sign pointing me to a local store to buy a
ticket. The only reasons I bought from the Box Hill ATM was to try the
system out and because it is the first opportunity to buy a ticket in my
journey (which I believe is stipulated in the Transport Act 1984 and
subsequent amendments). Indeed the person at the gate had he noticed I
didn't have a ticket would no doubt have made me buy one from the ATM.
So I was damned because I did and damned if I didn't (short of walking
through the validator twice for the sake of validating the damn thing
and missing my bus in the process). As for the bus drivers not knowing
this, he probably couldn't be bothered squinting from his seat to find
the expiry date amongst all the tiny print on the ticket.
	Also I doubt NBC care that much - after all, every time the driver
presses the button on his Datafare 2000 machine, it still registers me
as having travelled on the bus regardless of whether I have a validated
ticket or not.

> >       Whilst of course not condoning fare evasion (I agree with previous
> >posts saying the PTC has a right to you paying to use their system), it
> >did give me the thought that you could easily double or better the time
> >on each ticket if you are travelling on non validator buses or trams.
> >Simply buy your ticket from a machine to use on the bus. The machine
> >stamps the day you bought it and because you can't validate it, you can
> >reuse it until someone comments. What a great system! (like not)
> 
> From a MetCard brochure:
> "During the phase in period, Metcards will also be accepted on transport that
> does not yet have the new system installed, as long as your Metcard has been
> *validated* in a MetCard area".
> 
> So your Weekly wasn't actually valid until you put it into a validator machine.

Fair enough, but still darned inconvenient for the user who has to find
a way of validating it (see above comments) before travelling on a
non-Metcard service.

> 
> >3. In reference to the above does anybody know when National Bus Co will
> >get validators? It strikes me as odd that our local buses (Bell Street
> >and Dysons) have had validators on their vehicles for a while even
> >though ATMs are not due to be turned on in our area for a while but NBC
> >which is a lot closer to the action have no validators on any of their
> >buses I have seen.
> 
> Don't know. I noticed the other day Ventura are now using theirs.

According to info I read on the trials of the new system, some Ventura
routes should already have been using them (can't remember any apart
from 732 and I think 755 but I think they were mostly routes operated
around Knox - I remember thinking how typical it was the bus trial area
was only just bordering the tram/train trials because the 732 bus
connected with E Burwood trams which ran past the Alamein rail line)

> 
> >4. Whoever said their tickets are flimsy weren't wrong. Even after 2
> >days, it is starting to wear. No way will I buy a Metcard monthly until
> 
> I haven't had the misfortune of having a Metcard monthly yet - mine's still
> paper, at least for a few more days! I'll see how I go.
> 
> Daniel
> --
> Daniel Bowen, Melbourne Australia.
> Remove the spam bait to email me personally...