[LINK] Myki turned on .. sort of...

[Jan Whitaker]

This is nuts:

"From today, myki money or myki pass will be 
valid for travel on all train services operated 
by Metro and all V/Line services in zones one and 
two, including Melton and Sunbury," she said in a statement.

Ms Kosky did not give a date for the myki rollout on trams and buses.

This means anyone who validates a myki card on a 
train and then tries to use it on a tram or bus 
will be potentially liable for a $172 fine for 
travelling without a valid ticket.
Myki rolls out - but only on city trains (29 December 2009)
  http://www.theage.com.au/national/myki-rolls-out--but-only-on-city-trains-20091228-lhc8.html
  http://snipurl.com/twecx

[So, no integrated system yet. I wonder who's 
going to be the first person to complain that 
they paid for rides on the network and then 
they're are hit with 'not having a valid ticket' 
when they try to get from the station to their car or their office.

[There is an old American saying from one of the 
old political parties: If you want to stay in 
office, you must get the trains to run on time. I 
would add this corollary: and making sure the 
charging is appropriate and works. ::sigh::]

While ticket validators on train stations have 
worked well during the testing, there have been 
continuing problems getting the machines to 
****transmit data reliably from trams and buses to the central database.*****

A transport sector source close to the project 
said a tiny number of transactions had not been 
recorded properly by ticket validators on trams. 
''If [validators are] not working well enough, 
someone's transaction might not be 
 properly accounted for. That's an issue.''

[Ya think? Looks like there is a network 
connection aspect to this, and would be since the 
validity of the 'ticket' is based on the central 
store of value in terms of topup etc. If there 
isn't enough money on the card, the system would 
need to check somehow because otherwise, the 
passenger would be travelling on an invalid 
ticket, and therefore up for a fine.]

The myki system has been running on buses in 
Geelong since December last year, and in five 
other regional centres since March. There have 
been some teething problems, including almost 11,000 instances of overcharging.

[Fine little earner there. Some folks from 
Geelong were on talkback this morning saying they 
were staying well clear of it. It's been in 11 
months and the problems are still there, no 
change. So the full roll-out has 6 months to 
accomplish something that hasn't been fixed in nearly a year. Uh-oh.]

[from comments:]
Even if it is up by the end of the year, you 
cannot purchase myki cards, so what is the point? 
The website won't let you buy one, so coming on 
line is a moot point if we can't even use it!

The system has already been hacked and the only 
cards you can currently buy in the Melbourne CBD 
area are counterfeit but will work on the system 
when it goes live. The thing has been a hacker 
playground for the last few months.

I have a MYKI card and I can't log into my 
account. "Site under maintenance" message. Move 
over Monty Python, Lynne's now taking over the dead parrot sketch.






Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the 
world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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