[LINK] myki

[Karl Auer]

On Thu, 2012-10-18 at 13:01 +1100, Karl Schaffarczyk wrote:
> "The Snapper" in New Zealand operates in taxis, and seems to be realising
> the potential of being a multi-purpose public transport payment system.
> Everything we Australians do pales by comparison, and demonstrates narrow
> thinking by those who design and implement these systems.

In Switzerland you can buy tickets at numerous automats, at every tram
stop and at all but the smallest railway stations. One ticket covers
(almost) all forms of transport bus, tram, ferry, local trains. Long
haul trains require different tickets and include all travel at the end
of the trip, one way as far as your final destination. The only
exceptions to the system are some privately owned mountain railways.

All tickets are anonymous, though there are various concessions that
require some kind of proof of entitlement. If asked for your ticket, and
it's a concession, you need to show the proof of entitlement too. No
record is made of any personal details unless you are found not to have
ticket or not to have the right proof of entitlement. No record is made
of personal details at the time of purchase either, except for the two
largest long-term discount cards, which are not transferable.

On almost all forms of transport apart from long-haul rail, there is no
systematic effort to check all tickets. Instead, the system operates
statistically - and fines are set to cover, in aggregate, the estimated
total loss through fare evasion. Actually "fine" is the wrong word. It's
a no-fault system - the cost of a ticket is X, but if purchased from a
ticket-checker, it costs 100X :-)

Did I mention that the Swiss system is one of the best, if not THE best
public transport system in the world?

Regards, K.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl Auer (kauer at biplane.com.au)
http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer
http://www.biplane.com.au/blog

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