[LINK] myki

[Martin Barry]

$quoted_author = "Karl Auer" ;
> 
> 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.

We have a similar system here in the Rhein-Main area around Frankfurt.

 
> 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.

Monthly and yearly tickets can be used by someone other than the registered
user but are not supposed to be resold. However it's just a breach of the
T&Cs and there is no way to enforce it in the real world ("I'm just using my
friends card while he's away..."). But people are reluctant to buy them from
strangers when the seller maintains the ability to have it cancelled and
reissued.


> 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 :-)

The "fines" here are not 100x, more like 10x, but it's enough of a sting to
keep fare evasion low. I get checked at least 3-4 times per week.

The best bit of this way of checking tickets is that there is no bottleneck
boarding/leaving buses and trams or entering/leaving train stations, hence
services spend less time at each stop, a factor which probably plays a large
part in maintaining good on-time records.


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

It's not too shabby here either... :-)

cheers
Marty