For those who can or who choose to pre-pay all of those issues can be avoided.

Well there you go. Which is exactly why I use myki, the lovely little thing

No, it is not.
You have obviously never worked anywhere that sells products and/or services, and handled cash floats, and registers.

Thanks for asking. Yes, I have worked in a store that sells products and services, handled cash floats, and multiple registers.

We also had drivers who needed their own cash float.

And we never had any issues in coping.

I guess railways and buses don't have a customer service ethic.

Liron,
My question was whether it chooses the cheapest at the time, and then re-calculate the day's fares if later needed. I hope so.

Another strange thing that has happened to me twice now is once arriving at Parliament after travelling from Lilydale.  My Myki wouldn't open the gate so when I walked through the manned barrier it had be checked on their machine.  A couple of days ago when going home through Southern Cross, I tried three barriers but none opened for me (and seems to be other Myki users) and I had to walk through the manned barrier.  To prevent messing up the trip I didn't touch off and I thought it hadn't touched on.  Anyhow after checking the Myki website after a couple of days it actually did touch on and charge a default fare because I didn't touch off.  Does this happen often?

The other thing I'm not too keen on is as I use a Myki pass, when I get compensation credited I can't choose whether to use the pass or money on the Myki.  This is most annoying.

The other thing I'm not too keen on is as I use a Myki pass, when I get compensation credited I can't choose whether to use the pass or money on the Myki.  This is most annoying.

To use up the myki money, a few people I know wait until they get a few compo's worth of myki money on their myki, and then use the accumulated myki money to buy their next myki pass.

Another strange thing that has happened to me twice now is once arriving at Parliament after travelling from Lilydale.  My Myki wouldn't open the gate so when I walked through the manned barrier it had be checked on their machine.  A couple of days ago when going home through Southern Cross, I tried three barriers but none opened for me (and seems to be other Myki users) and I had to walk through the manned barrier.  To prevent messing up the trip I didn't touch off and I thought it hadn't touched on.  Anyhow after checking the Myki website after a couple of days it actually did touch on and charge a default fare because I didn't touch off.  Does this happen often?

If you email or call myki customer service you can explain the situation and they should refund you. In the situation you describe, I would touch off anyway. If it hadn't touched you on at Southern Cross station, then your touch off would be a touch on, however if you wait 30 seconds and then touch to the reader again, it will touch off as a "change of mind" with no charge. Note that change of mind is only relevant to train travel, there is no change of mind on buses and trams.

The other thing I'm not too keen on is as I use a Myki pass, when I get compensation credited I can't choose whether to use the pass or money on the Myki.  This is most annoying.

A myki pass is consecutive days travel. It wouldn't be a good idea to compensate extra days on a myki pass as you might not want the particular day extra.

Any myki money on your card is used up if you travel outside of your pass zone. Also, what many people I know do is put spare change on their myki whenever they're near a machine and use this towards buying their next myki pass. As long as your myki money balance is greater than the value of the pass you're purchasing, you can use myki money to buy the pass. Note that this option is only available at topup machines, it's not available online.

MYKI is now not expected to be fully operational until 2012. (MACGOWAN, Ian, 2011, p.11

Works Cited
MACGOWAN, Ian. 2011. Passenger Rail Transport in Australia. ibis world.

Can someone who is not Melbtrip confirm this?

There is no actual confirmation that I know of or that I could find. The document "cited" is a report from January 2011, so it wouldn't contain any new information on myki at all.  

MYKI is now not expected to be fully operational until 2012. (MACGOWAN, Ian, 2011, p.11

Works Cited
MACGOWAN, Ian. 2011. Passenger Rail Transport in Australia. ibis world.

There is no actual confirmation that I know of or that I could find. The document "cited" is a report from January 2011, so it wouldn't contain any new information on myki at all.  

IBISWorld is a company that produces reports on virtually every industry in the world - they give a good overview of a topic if want an introduction to an industry and where it is going, but they don't have any magic knowledge of the inner works of Myki.

In other words, that post of melbtrip's comment can be treated the same way you usually do.

MYKI is now not expected to be fully operational until 2012. (MACGOWAN, Ian, 2011, p.11

Works Cited
MACGOWAN, Ian. 2011. Passenger Rail Transport in Australia. ibis world.

There is no actual confirmation that I know of or that I could find. The document "cited" is a report from January 2011, so it wouldn't contain any new information on myki at all.  

IBISWorld is a company that produces reports on virtually every industry in the world - they give a good overview of a topic if want an introduction to an industry and where it is going, but they don't have any magic knowledge of the inner works of Myki.

In other words, that post of melbtrip's comment can be treated the same way you usually do.

A pity we can't get MELBTRIPE banned. we all know it is full of rubbish, but newbie's might take its word as gospel.

Dave

There's nothing incorrect in those words from Ibisworld.

Until all of the fittings for Melbourne including dedicated Myki ticket-barriers and bus drivers' consoles are installed and running, a commentator can fairly describe the system as "not yet fully operational". Much of that activity can't commence until the Metcard equipment is deinstalled and thus decommitted. The Metcard system is unlikely to be decommitted before April. Only then, can a substantial part of the installation work commence.

While there is some Myki work underway, the project is being held up for what look to be largely political reasons. The Metcard system would almost certainly have been gone now, had Brumby retained government. Maybe the budget will bring an announcement that they're proceeding with Myki, because that's the cheapest option. More likely is that they'll just sit on the findings for a while longer so that a year's delay in decommitting Metcard doesn't look completely irrational.

The only thing incorrect would be to believe that they're an update from April. That Melbtrip's post appears to reference a book means that you shouldn't expect it to be up-to-date.

And apparently it's being kept, this from the State Budget.  No detail yet.

http://twitter.com/#!/RyanSheales/status/65279807952396288

Of course it's being kept, the important question is will it be put on V/Line?

And apparently it's being kept, this from the State Budget.  No detail yet.

http://twitter.com/#!/RyanSheales/status/65279807952396288

Hmm... The ABC is saying "the Government will keep the trouble-plagued myki ticketing system":
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/03/3206675.htm

... while The Age is saying "The budget papers failed to divulge the fate of myki":
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/no-shocks-in-state-budget-20110503-1e66j.html

Presumably one of them is wrong. Which is it? And why the discrepancy in what was perceived by these reporters?

And apparently it's being kept, this from the State Budget.  No detail yet.

http://twitter.com/#!/RyanSheales/status/65279807952396288

Hmm... The ABC is saying "the Government will keep the trouble-plagued myki ticketing system":
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/03/3206675.htm

... while The Age is saying "The budget papers failed to divulge the fate of myki":
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/no-shocks-in-state-budget-20110503-1e66j.html

Presumably one of them is wrong. Which is it? And why the discrepancy in what was perceived by these reporters?

Well, apparently the Treasurer told reporters "When we take ownership of myki we are going to make sure it works". Which I thought was strange, as the government already owns myki

Presumably one of them is wrong. Which is it? And why the discrepancy in what was perceived by these reporters?

Because some reporters are just stupid?

The Age article said that the government was unwilling to divulge the fate of Myki because it would affect negotiations between the government and Keane et al. The Age remarked also that a desire not to affect negotiations suggests strongly that the government is continuing with the Myki contract.

I notice also that Ted had these words published in the Age this morning

[cost blowouts] include myki, LEAP/LINK and HealthSmart as well as Regional Rail, the Melbourne Market redevelopment, the Royal Children's Hospital IT system and the West Gate Bridge.

The Victorian Coalition government is determined to put each of these projects on a responsible footing and is investigating the full risk and exposure of each project in order to mitigate further losses of taxpayer funds before progressing with the projects.

http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/throwing-good-money-after-bad-is-no-way-to-run-a-government-20110502-1e4m2.html(underline added)

Putting a project on a responsible footing means that you're proceeding with work, maybe with some revisions to the contract. It doesn't mean that you're repudiating the contracts and cancelling the project.

I was on a Swanston Street tram this afternoon and at least 8 people touched off/on around me in the minute I was on the tram (I only caught it two blocks).  Probably the most I've ever seen use it on a tram at once.  For a brief shining moment it was like it all just worked exactly the way it was meant to and everyone was using it and liking it.  I wonder if that will ever truly happen.

For a brief shining moment it was like it all just worked exactly the way it was meant to and everyone was using it and liking it.  I wonder if that will ever truly happen.

Did Metcard ever really get to that point?

Did Metcard ever really get to that point?

Probably not.  If you measure the popularity of a system, I think you'd have to say that Octopus is much more "loved" by the people of Hong Kong than Metcard is "loved" by the people of Melbourne.  If those 8 people I saw yesterday had been suing metcard, I'd go so far as to wager than most of them wouldn't have bothered validating, when they actually should have been.

Meanwhile, The Age now thinks it's being kept:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/myki-gets-goahead-as-costs-for-station-guards-blow-out-31-million-20110503-1e6xh.html

So I guess now we wait to see in what forum the rollout will continue.  Hopefully they don't muck around to long.

Based on what we've seen so far this LIB government will be a shadow of what Kennett's was.  Not saying I like what he did, far from it, but he was very much action-man with throwing his weight around in changing stuff.
This gov. has a whole bunch of issues brewing over decades plus the ones recently caused by the ALP, and they're simply ignoring 80% of them.

Also it's safe to say that Mulder will be a worse, even more no-action transport minister than Kosky was, and that is a sad thought.

I love this story, it just speaks volumes of where Vic governments waste money and sweep things under thr rug, and get away with it scott free: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/ticket-chief-stopped-in-tracks/2008/04/01/1206850910956.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Miners' dismissal on, what would have been April Fools' Day, attracted a brief passing mention on page 66 of the previous thread.

The Age now thinks it's being kept

The words are:

Mr Wells said the government was negotiating to make sure Victorians got the best deal possible for myki. ''When we [the Baillieu government] take ownership of myki, we are going to make sure it works,'' he said. But he refused to give any detail on what the Baillieu government expected to spend on retaining myki.

A separate editorial has the words:

The budget also provides $220 million for seven new trains — but there's still no decision on the fate of the myki ticketing system, or a start date for an independent public transport authority

http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/a-very-baillieu-budget-no-frills-and-few-surprises-20110503-1e6da.html

They have announced nothing so many are assuming the status quo. For Myki, that means that the system will be kept but the project remains "on hold".

I'd say they're trying to let a bit of time pass so it will be more "palatable" to everyone when they announce the metcard shutdown. Which would probably mean maintaining status quo for a bit.