Re: New logic on Metcard

[cmgord@ecr.mu.oz.au (Christopher_Martin GORDON)]

: It does when people are claiming to have constant troubles, and I did not
: experience a single problem in an entire fortnight. The only reason I stated
: my travel pattern was so that I could not be accused of being a tourist and
: only using it a few times a day. What I did was typical of a Melbourne
: resident (apart from using it when I wanted to go out :p)

Let me know next time you are in Melbourne I will take you and show you
a few things about automatic ticketing that will change your mind.
You might not have had problems (try a monthly) but just watch a busy
station for 1/2 an hour and watch how many problems people have.

: That gets back to my point about the plastic coated tickets. They would last
: (they last for a year in Sydney) yet judging by your comments, you (and
: others) would still not validate. Maybe if you all did, and the Gestapo were
: unable to read the details, and this was to become the norm, then they just
: might introduce these tickets until Metcard Xpress comes in.

Well it doesn't take much to work out that Metcards are thermal printed and
this is done with heat, a plastic coated ticket will melt, and then you
will have no writing on it.

I validate when I have to, ie each morning to get onto the station (so I
can get out at the other end) through the barriers, going home through
the barriers, at Ringwood through the barriers (sometimes, through the 
opened barriers because someone has pushed the button to open them, and
they don't take tickets till reset by a quarter turn of the button)
never on the bus (National Bus) and not on trams (hardly catch them)

You get pissed off when you get to a station the barriers are open and off
because someone has pushed the button to get out because they don't have a
ticket, you can't validate yours, and then next time you see an open barrier
you just walk through.  Why bother validating? it didn't work last time.


--
Chris Gordon
http://www.ecr.mu.oz.au/~cmgord