Re: [Melb] $3.30 tickets almost useless

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

: 1. The tickets are only for train travel - there are no 
: transfers to trams or buses.

For a return trip to the city, but I understand you can use it
to go to the Show.  ie Caufield to Showgrounds and return.

: 2. The availability of the tickets is extremely poor. The
: only place they can be obtained is Premium stations. Metcard
: vending machines or Metcard outlets do not stock them.  Most
: people would need to travel to a Premium station to buy one.
: If they pay a fare for this trip they lose much of the savings
: this ticket confers; if they don't they risk fines for 
: fare dodging.

: 3. It gets even worse.  You MUST know the day
: that you intend to travel at the time of ticket PURCHASE, not
: at the time of ticket USE, as with a Metcard.  This is OK for people
: who have regular off-peak travel patterns (eg work), but much off-peak
: travel is discretionary, and may be made on the spur of the moment. 
: If you do not travel on the day that the ticket is valid for, no
: refunds will be payable.  

The problem of getting them and knowing the day of purchase is simply
because we have gone backwards and they are paper tickets.

The ticket will be stamped at the station using the old weekly and 
monthly stamps and is about the same size.  It is realy for people getting
on at premium stations and traveling that day.

It costs more for zone 1/2 and zone 1/2/3.

It is for travel arriving at town after 9:30, so that you could leave say
Dandenong at about 8:45 and use one of these tickets.  The tickets from
the ATM's for off peak (zone 2 to city and zone 3 to city, off peak saver)
can't be validated till after 9:30.  So someone at Pakenham can't travel
till after 9:30 getting to town at 10:30, while someone at Box Hill can 
travel after 9:30 getting to town at 10:00.  That is one of the reasons
that this ticket can't use the automatic ticketing system, the
automatic ticketing system can't handle validating a ticket for arrival
at town after 9:30.

Back in the 1980's to make everything fair they said it was for arrival
at town after 9:30.  On the timetables marked was the first train
marked for off peak travel.  Where as the system of traveling after 9:30
lets the inner city people catch an earlier train than the outer city 
people.

It is all fair now.
--

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