Vanessa de Largie | Topic Media | September 14, 2013
MYKI arrived in the world on Tuesday, the 29th of December 2009, to a proud single parent – Public Transport Victoria.
Public Transport Victoria had high expectations of their beloved smartcard MYKI and assumed his creation would make travelling on public transport easier for Melbournians; they were greatly mistaken.
On the MYKI website, Public Transport Victoria promotes online top-up as the easiest and most convenient way to top up your MYKI smartcard yet according to recently revealed figures in Track Record, only 20% of Melbournians top up online with the majority choosing vending machines or newsagencies to add money to their smartcard. (The MYKI smartcard isn’t very smart)
In recent weeks, I have been catching public transport daily. I am yet to catch a tram where people aren’t complaining about MYKI. From what I’ve observed and experienced first hand, MYKI confuses people.
And why isn’t there a MYKI top-up vending machine on trams and trains? Wouldn’t that make sense?
As the 112 tram collects tired and weary workers along Brunswick St at 7pm on a weeknight, the majority of passengers’ cards are declined. They all respond with the same dreaded, hopeless and fed-up look.
In my opinion, MYKI is an epic failure but I would be interested to hear what other Melbournians think.
Should Melbourne terminate Myki and return to the old ticketing system?