As most people are aware (consciously or not), Friday is usually the traditional dumping ground of news that government departments etc want quietly swept under the rug due to the new cycle and hoping that the community misses it. However, it seems that the PTV and the Victorian Liberal government is doing the damnedest to make sure that Sundays are now their dumping ground.
The case in point is the "news update" that the PTV has uploaded on their website today (21st September) simply entitled 1 January 2015 Fare Changes (http://ptv.vic.gov.au/1-january-2015-fare-changes/).
With the "brilliant" and "eye catching" mini banner touting "More Affordable Public Transport" by the way of the "Free Tram Zone" and "Travel in Zones 1+2 for the Price of Zone 1 Fare", the devil is in the detail of this update.
The delightful PTV banner touting the changes
The first detail worth mention is the actual physical layout of the Free Tram Zone (FTZ). Traditionally speaking, in recent years the trams have considered the area bounded by Melbourne University, Queen Victoria Market (both Elizabeth Street and Victoria Street), Docklands, the Casino, Domain Interchange and Flinders Street up to Spring Street and the Batman Street extension as the CBD area. With this announcement it's worth noting the following:
- The FTZ on Swanston Street ends at Melbourne Central/LaTrobe Street- how many uni students will be (quite rightly) caught out fare evading based on their claims they didn't know it ended there?
- The Spencer Street corridor ends at Batman Park and NOT at the Casino/MCEC stop- a bit random in my mind as to why the one stop difference?
- The middle of the city FTZ corridor ends at Flinders Street and Queens Bridge (under the rail viaduct) and not the Casino East- again why the change to the status quo?
- The Southern Swanston St FTZ ends at the major interchange of the Flinders St/Federation Square tram/train connection- the only possible reason for this is to stop the possible increase of fare evasion of people "forgetting" to touch on if the FTZ was through to Domain Interchange.
It is quite interesting to note the FAQ section on the PTV website about the FTZ notes that if you are travelling beyond the FTZ you still have to touch on (which is fare enough). And this would support the reasoning of why some of the corridors end where they do. After all- based on the information provided, people transferring between modals at Flinders Street/Federation Square, Melbourne Central/La Trobe Street and Southern Cross/Spencer Street/Collins Street (towards Clarendon St and the St Kilda Light Rail), will still need to touch on and if they're using the early bird Myki fare (finish travel before 0715 on a metropolitan train service); they will still be paying at least one fare and not "double dipping free loading".
Call my cynical, but this to me reads like a half arsed attempt by the PTV and the current Liberal government to grab votes of public transport users. A more successful attempt at making public transport a viable means is what is undertaken in South East Queensland with the TransLink Go Card System. I'll do a post specifically about this shortly, but in a nutshell their system (which admittedly is a distance/time based rather then Melbourne's zone/time based) has the user paying for 9 trips in a Monday to Sunday week, and then the rest of the trips are free. Now I took advantage of this recently and took a few trips from Brisbane to the Gold Coast and not paying for these trips helped my budget quite a bit (but I digress).
The second part of the PTV announcement is the Zone 2 will be the same price as Zone 1 fares. In a nutshell- vote grabbing, artificial growth stunt.
I'll post some quotes from the article below to let you, the reader, judge what I think are the "highlights"
“For customers travelling with a myki pass, from 1 January 2015, Zone 1 passes will no longer be sold. Instead you will be able to purchase a Zone 1 and 2 myki pass, which will cost the same as a Zone 1 pass.
Important note for customers purchasing a myki pass
To ensure you get the full benefit of the change, we encourage you to buy your new Zone 1 and 2 myki pass on or after 1 January 2015.
Until then, top up your myki to New Year’s Eve or the start of your Christmas holiday, then come back and travel with us in 2015, with a new pass and more savings in your pocket.”
“13. Why do I need to buy a Zone 1 and 2 myki pass if I’m only being charged a Zone 1 fare?
Zones across Melbourne are not changing – what is changing is that travel across Zones 1 and 2 will be charged a Zone 1 fare from 1 January 2015.
Not everyone travels across Zones 1 and 2 and people who travel only within Zone 2 will continue to get access to the cheaper Zone 2 fare.
”
I am a firm believer in making public transport more accessible and the system easier for people to use. That is why I like the Brisbane modal; it's simple (though possible slightly expensive), trustworthy and rewards the user for using it.
As for Melbourne?
The Myki system has become that barstardised and that weak, it's unreliable at best and at worst it's confusing. And it doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon