Metcard is the brand name of the ticket used to access public transport in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. ^[1] It is a universal ticket which allows users to ride on the city's Metlink network, consisting of suburban trains, trams, and buses. This article is about the Melbourne public transport network The same name is also used for Public transport in Wellington. A train is a connected series of vehicles that move along a track ( Permanent way) to transport freight or passengers from one place to another A tram, tramcar, trolley, trolley car, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a Train The Metcard is a credit card sized ticket made out of cardboard or plastic and uses a magnetic strip to store fare data. A credit card is part of a system of Payments named after the small Plastic card issued to users of the system A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing Data by modifying the Magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material A fare is the Fee paid by a traveler allowing him or her to make use of a Public transport system rail, Bus, taxi, etc Metcard is operated by OneLink Transit Systems under a contract to the State Government which is managed by the Transport Ticketing Authority. Transport Ticketing Authority (TTA is a division of the Department of Infrastructure in the State Government of Victoria, Australia. ^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Operation 3 Zones and fares 4 Future 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

History

Metcard replaced a functionally identical yet technically simpler system of punch tickets and scratchies used on the Melbourne public transport network. Scratchies were easy to cheat and the system was eventually abandoned in 2002,^[3] but not before tickets for many years of use were printed.

Moves towards automated ticketing were first made by the then state Liberal Government in 1992. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Tenders were called for the design, supply, installation and on-going maintenance of such a system, with the the 'OneLink Transit Consortium' announced as the preferred tenderer in September 1993. The contract was signed in May 1994, with the major technology supplier being the ERG Group. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) ERG Group is an Australian-based technology company with offices worldwide ^[4]

Testing of prototypes commenced in December 1993, and the roll-out of the system was carried out from August 1996 to April 1998, and acceptance occurred in November 1997. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar ^[4] Public field trials were carried out on buses from August 20 1996, and on rail services from September 18 1996. ^[5] The system commenced full revenue service from May 1998 at a cost of $330 million. ^[6] Contractual issues between OneLink and the Victorian Government were not settled until May 2002 with the payment of up to $65 million in a staged settlement. The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[7]

Controversy surrounded Metcard at its introduction, due to cost over-runs, the abolition of tram conductors and the unreliability of ticket purchasing and validation machines. Train Conductor (North America The Conductor is the railway employee charged with the management of a freight passenger or various other types of Train, and is The machines were attacked by vandals frequently (often by pouring liquids into the coin slot), and have seen several revisions to their design since. Vandalism is the behaviour attributed to the Vandals in respect of Culture: ruthless Destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or Venerable Liquid is one of the principal States of matter. A liquid is a Fluid that has the particles loose and can freely form a distinct surface at the boundaries of ^[8]

Consistent with the privatisation ethos of the government of the day, Metcard's operation was entirely outsourced, with the transport operators (at that time government-owned) having nothing to do with the system. Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of business from the Public sector (government to the Private sector (business Metcard even had its own website and branding which became stronger than the anonymous and constantly renaming government then privatised operators.

An audit released by the State Government in 2001 showed over 1 in 4 (27. 2%) of the machines at train stations did not work, and 11. |}A train station, railway station, railroad station, or station yard is a facility at which Passengers may board and alight from Trains 9% of mobile equipment in buses and trams was non-operational. ^[9] The State Government renegotiated with ticketing network contract operator OneLink Transit Systems to improve the service to commuters. Following these improvements, a 2002 audit showed an increase in availability of machines to 92. 1% at train stations, and 98. 3% on buses and trams. Usability was also improved, with tram machines able to sell daily tickets. Furthermore, vandalism across the network dropped by 62% between 2001 and 2002. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[8]

V/Line tickets were aligned with the Metcard system in April 2006, with each V/Line ticket to stations in the Metcard area having the relevant zones printed on them. V/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[10] In March 2007 the Nightrider bus service was also brought under the Metcard system. The NightRider is a bus service in Melbourne, Australia. It operates after midnight from the Melbourne city centre to the suburbs, running on ^[11] Zone 3 was removed from the Metcard system (and merged into zone 2) on March 4 2007,^[12] due to a State Election promise made by Opposition Leader Ted Ballieu and matched by then Premier Steve Bracks. Edward Norman (Ted Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is an Australian politician Stephen Philip Bracks (better known as Steve Bracks (born 15 October, 1954) is a former Australian politician and the 44th Premier of Victoria ^[13]

The original Metcard contract with OneLink was to last nine years, expiring in March 2007. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In 2005 the contract was amended to permit the system to be extended and modified as work on the replacement myki project progresses, with the contract being able to be terminated on six months notice. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For the town in Greece see Myki Greece. History Work on a replacement public ticketing system in Victoria commenced in Late 2002 ^[2]

Operation

All forms of public transport can be accessed by using a single Metcard. Melbourne, Capital city of the State of Victoria, Australia, features an extensive Bus network List of Melbourne tram routes The city of Melbourne, the second-largest city in Australia first had trams introduced in 1885 and is now home to the largest Tram Southern Cross (formerly Spencer Street and before that Batman's Hill) is a major railway station and transport hub of Melbourne, Victoria Metcards are a time and zone based ticket, with validity periods ranging from 2 hours to yearly, and two zones covering the Melbourne metropolitan area. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 Further information on the range of Metcards available is published in Metlink's [Victorian Fares and Ticketing Manual].

Metcards can be purchased in the following ways from:

• Rail stations Ticket Vending Machines
• Ticket Vending Machines on board trams and the Stony Point train
• Bus drivers
• (staffed) stations
• The Met Shop (inside the Melbourne Town Hall on Swanston Street)
• Authorised Metcard outlets such as newsagencies and milk bars
• The Internet http://store.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/
• Phone orders (1 800 652 313)

Ticket availability varies, with the sources above each stocking slightly different ranges beyond the standard two-hour, daily and seniors tickets. A vending machine is a machine that provides various snacks beverages and other products to consumers The Stony Point line is a greater-metropolitan railway line in Melbourne, Australia. A premium station is a Railway station on Melbourne 's suburban rail network that has Improved passenger facilities such as enclosed waiting Melbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria. Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Australia. ^[14] Availability on board buses is particularly restricted, with neither the Sunday Saver nor off-peak tickets being available from drivers. Similarly ticket vending machines at railway stations do not stock Sunday Savers or some types of off-peak tickets. Payment options vary from coin-only (small Metcard machines on trams and at railway stations), EFTPOS, coin and some notes (large ticket machines at stations) to EFTPOS, credit card, coin and all notes (premium railway stations). Electronic funds transfer or EFT refers to the Computer -based systems used to perform Financial transactions electronically A credit card is part of a system of Payments named after the small Plastic card issued to users of the system

Metcards are 'validated' when entering or exiting railway stations, and getting on trams or buses. This is a list of the 200 currently operating suburban railway stations (216 including greater metropolitan stations in Melbourne, Australia The first validation prints an expiry date and time on the back of the ticket. Subsequent validations of most types of tickets do not print extra times but the data was intended to be used to count passenger numbers (in order to improve transport services). Revalidation of already validated tickets, whilst functionally unnecessary, is still required by law^[1] and occasional campaigns continue to remind passengers of this.

When transport operations were franchised, revalidation data was also used to apportion revenue share between operators. ^[4] This has since been abandoned in favour of fixed percentage allocations (40% train, 40% tram and 20% bus).

With the lack of barriers at all but a few major railway stations and trams not having conductors, enforcement is the responsibility of roaming Authorised Officers (ticket inspectors). Authorised Officers (AOs) check that passengers have the correct ticket and, if using a concession ticket, have a suitable concession card. AOs do not issue fines directly but issue an infringement notice. The passenger then receives a letter from the Department of Infrastructure, who may issue a fine. The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to They can either pay the fine, or contest it by letter or in court. ^[15]

Zones and fares

The Melbourne ticketing system is based on 'Zones' and calculated depending on travel zone, with higher fares for trips that include both travel Zones. The Melbourne zonal fare system is broken up into two ticketing Zones: Zone 1 (Yellow) and Zone 2 (Blue). The two zones form concentric rings, with Zone 1 comprising the inner suburbs, and Zone 2 covering the remainder of metropolitan Melbourne. Zone overlap areas exist on the borders of the two zones. In these areas tickets for either zone are acceptable. ^[16]

A separate fare and ticketing system exists for V/Line (country) services. V/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. However since April 2006 holders of V/Line tickets to Melbourne have access to both Zone 1 and 2, while V/Line tickets to Zone 2 stations are valid for Zone 2 only. ^[17] Fares in most towns just outside Melbourne were also aligned to Zone 2 Metcard prices as part of this integration. ^[10]

As of 2008, a daily Zone 1 full-fare (as distinct from concession fare) ticket costs $6. 50 AUD, and a weekly Zone 1 ticket costs $28. The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the Currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas 00 AUD. The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the Currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Prices generally rise by inflation (CPI) on January 1 each year, though there have been occasional higher than CPI increases. ^[18]

Future

Main article: myki

The Metcard system was scheduled to be replaced in 2008 by a smartcard-based ticketing system called myki, which will also cover all public transport in the state. For the town in Greece see Myki Greece. History Work on a replacement public ticketing system in Victoria commenced in Late 2002 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common A smart card, chip card, or Integrated circuit card ( ICC) is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated For the town in Greece see Myki Greece. History Work on a replacement public ticketing system in Victoria commenced in Late 2002 ^[19] However in February 2008 Victorian Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky announced that the full roll out of the system would not begin until the end of 2008^[20]. The Hon Lynne Janice Kosky MP (born September 2 1958) is an Australian politician Approximately 7 weeks later, the system was delayed for approximately another 2 years, with an announcement that the service was now scheduled to begin its roll out in 2009, but not be fully operational until some time in 2010 ^[21]

The two systems would coexist until the transition is complete. This article is about the year For the film see 2009 Lost Memories. For the film see 2010 The Year We Make Contact. For the book see 2010 Odyssey Two. The current Metcard equipment supports a similar system based on re-usable RFID touch cards for use by public transport staff and other pass holders,^[22] however this provides neither the flexibility nor advantages intended to be brought by the new system. Radio-frequency identification ( RFID) is an automatic identification method relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or

The new system has been announced as a Tag On / Tag Off system, where two validations are required per journey; one when boarding and again when alighting. ^[19] This means passengers will have a single card and be charged for the actual fare used. This is unlike the current system where passengers who travel into different zones at different days and times may need to buy several types of Metcards beforehand.

Tag on/tag off has both benefits and costs. On one hand it allows fares to be automatically calculated, always giving the passenger the cheapest fare option. Also, unlike Metcard, special off-peak fares to encourage travel during quiet times could be implemented, for example. Rush hour at Shinjuku 02JPG|thumb|right|250px|Rush hour at Shinjuku Station, Yamanote Line]] A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which The main cost will likely be borne by passengers who do not tag off. Such passengers will likely be charged the 2 hour Zone 1+2 fare. ^[19]

See also

• Automated Fare Collection System

References

• Victorian Public Transport Ticketing (unofficial)

External links

• Metlink fares & tickets - official website
• PTUA - Your Rights on Melbourne's Public Transport
• PTUA - Ticketing & Smartcard FAQ
• Unofficial Public Transport Guide to Melbourne

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