Friday, October 03, 2008
Myki - Where's the Benefit?
The original automated ticketing system for Melbourne's public transport seemed to have had three goals:
1. Replace tram conductors (humans = inefficiency)
2. Work out which new private company gets which percentage of ticket sales
3. Get a better understanding of journeys travelled
The results were quite different:
1. The tram service no longer has conductors, which means many travellers, including a lot of tourists, are lacking the help they need in using the service
2. Privatising was a joke - people go where they need to go, they don't choose the company with the best logo - there was and is no need for competition
3. Whatever they learned, services have not changed or improved from this knowledge. Plus a few interns with clipboards and clickers could have achieved almost as much
So basically we spent hundreds of millions to replace conductors with machines, to provide a lesser service, and cause the unemployment of 500 workers
Now the new ticketing system is established, we should just leave it alone - it is functioning.
But no! A replacement is being introduced next year called Myki, and it is only costing $850 million to install, and $550 million to run for 10 years. That is over a billion dollars, with the only benefit I can see is that you can store credits on card.
Faults:
1. Many users don't have spare cash to store as credits for public transport
2. Those with spare cash are typically commuters who work 5 days a week, and buy monthly tickets anyway - virtually the same thing
150,000 Melbournites use public transport to get to work each day. That divides easily into the $1.5 billion being spent - $10,000 per user, or $1,000 per year, or $20 per week.
Would you pay $20 a week to have a smartcard, even it it worked in payphones and at 7/11?
No. But you are paying it, via your taxes.
Ridiculous!
1. Replace tram conductors (humans = inefficiency)
2. Work out which new private company gets which percentage of ticket sales
3. Get a better understanding of journeys travelled
The results were quite different:
1. The tram service no longer has conductors, which means many travellers, including a lot of tourists, are lacking the help they need in using the service
2. Privatising was a joke - people go where they need to go, they don't choose the company with the best logo - there was and is no need for competition
3. Whatever they learned, services have not changed or improved from this knowledge. Plus a few interns with clipboards and clickers could have achieved almost as much
So basically we spent hundreds of millions to replace conductors with machines, to provide a lesser service, and cause the unemployment of 500 workers
Now the new ticketing system is established, we should just leave it alone - it is functioning.
But no! A replacement is being introduced next year called Myki, and it is only costing $850 million to install, and $550 million to run for 10 years. That is over a billion dollars, with the only benefit I can see is that you can store credits on card.
Faults:
1. Many users don't have spare cash to store as credits for public transport
2. Those with spare cash are typically commuters who work 5 days a week, and buy monthly tickets anyway - virtually the same thing
150,000 Melbournites use public transport to get to work each day. That divides easily into the $1.5 billion being spent - $10,000 per user, or $1,000 per year, or $20 per week.
Would you pay $20 a week to have a smartcard, even it it worked in payphones and at 7/11?
No. But you are paying it, via your taxes.
Ridiculous!
Labels: melbourne, myki, public transport
