Re: [Melb] $3.30 tickets almost useless

[Jennifer Richmond <richmond@melbpc.org.au>]

Peter Parker wrote:

> The much vaunted $3.30 off-peak tickets offered to
> train travellers appear to be almost useless for most
> off-peak commuters.

I find that the $4.90 off-peak tickets (Zone 1+2) sell very well at
Thomastown. A lot of people go into the city to shop, or even out the
other side again on a different train.
These off peak tickets are designed mainly for someone who wants to go
into the city during the day and not bother about the amount of time they
spend. From an outer station such as Thomastown, a 2 hour ticket is not
long enough and a full day ticket is too expensive.

> I rang Caulfield Station and found out the following:
>
> 1. The tickets are only for train travel - there are no
> transfers to trams or buses.

A lot of people who go into the city to shop do not want to travel on a
tram or bus.

> 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.

I agree that this is a problem, but the tickets will only be available for
a trial period until the 3rd of December.
Perhaps if they are a success, they will put the tickets into the
machines.


> 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.

If you don't like these tickets, no one is forcing you to use them. The
tickets are designed for return trips into the city. You can still buy a
regular ticket, you just pay the regular rate.
I think that it is good that the new companies are trying something new!



> Lower fares to encourage off-peak travel is a good idea, but the
> implementation is very poor.  The above three problems identified
> above are so severe that the $3.30 ticket will be a poor choice
> for the very types of off-peak travel that the ticket is supposed to
> encourage.

The ticket is supposed to encourage people to go into town and
shop/dine/be entertained at their own leisure, not for cross town travel.
The Zone 1 ticket may not such great value, but you can still buy your old
ticket.

Sam Eades