[LINK] more myki pain

Crispin Harris crispin.harris at gmail.com
Sun Apr 11 09:54:01 AEST 2010


The TransPerth is also Zone based, is almost contactless (contact pad, but
proximity detect up to about 5cm).

This system has been running without major issue for about 3 years now, and
is quite capable of handling our volume of traffic. (which is, admittedly
less than the Melbourne trams, but very similar to Melbourne busses - in my
experience).

I am not quite sure how the Perth system works, but it appears to rely on
some additional smarts inside the vehicle for fare determination.

I sustect that there is a wireless transmitter to advise the vehicles of
when they transit a zone.

It amazes me that Myki is having so many problems.

Cheers,
   C

On Sun, Apr 11, 2010 at 7:40 AM, Jan Whitaker <jwhit at melbpc.org.au> wrote:

> At 09:28 AM 11/04/2010, Tom Worthington you wrote:
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/new-tram-plan-could-get-myki-back-on-track-20100409-rysb.html
> >
> >No. According to the article in the Age, the problem is that the
> >Melbourne fare structure is distance based.
>
> Yes. They can't make it work TECHNICALLY because the comms break too
> often on board and between the tram and the central data hub. As long
> as they need some sort of determination of fare on the account in
> real-time, this won't work or will have points of failure, which was
> my main point.
>
> The system is NOT distance based. It's zone based. That is a two
> point determination: Zone 1 or Zone 2, and not many of those either.
> I think only 3-4 tram lines cross into Zone 2. That means that once
> you cross into the second zone when you swipe off, across a single
> boarder, the charge would be for a different amount. That could
> presumably be recorded on the card itself and not require any central
> access at all. These are supposed to be Smart CARDS, not Networked
> cards. Heck, magstripe cards can do that with value storage on them.
> Distance, or at least the station designation, is how the Washington
> DC metcard system worked 20 years ago. No 'smart' cards in sight,
> similar to the current Melbourne metcard, which also has a value
> storage on them. Why a supposed "smart" card can't do the same thing
> points to problems with the overall network design that requires
> comms. There is NO need for comms if the information is stored on the
> card itself.
>
> Jan
>
>
>
> 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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-- 
Crispin Harris
crispin.harris at gmail.com
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