After three years of being a devoted Metcard user, with zero problems, zero fines and 100% satisfaction... I finally decided this morning to take the plunge. Icy, cold, and four hours later, still knocking the breath out of me... How did anyone ever consider Myki to be a great idea? What bright-eyed man put forth this terrible idea as a way of the transporting future for Melbourne? There are so many things wrong with the system... I cannot understand why they didn’t just scrap the idea when they realised it was failing over and over again. They are temperamental plastic cards and on the first morning of working myself up to use Myki, IT FAILED! I tried to touch off at Flinders Street Station... which of course was already completely packed due to rush hour and failing machines, and it just wouldn't let me touch off! I had 100% touched on, AND the people in front of me managed to touch off... but mine didn’t work. I had to go to two more machines before I finally could get out of the station. HOW IS THIS THE WAY OF MELBOURNE'S TRANSPORT FUTURE? To me it seems like a massive step in the wrong direction and here I was being forced to follow the pack. Not even one single day without errors, Myki is leaving a bad taste in my mouth...
There were so many other options the Myki developers could have gone with. Some kind of smart phone application where you scan a barcode and it records all the ins and outs of your Public Transport life (come to think of it, this idea could be even used by police to track people down or give you an airtight alibi) and keeps you up to date with your spendings. That would have been a smart idea... And for those who didn’t have smart phones.. CONTINUE TO USE THE METCARDS! That way, even tourists could get around our city without being awfully confused. To me, it seems like $1.3 Billion dollars wasted on a terrible idea that isn’t leading us into the future... Instead it is herding us into crammed walkways and blocking up what used to be a steady flow of commuters.
Melbourne, I love you, but you’re really pushing our friendship with this one. I am already unhappy after only one day and I know there are many others who are in the same boat as me. You know... The one that's slowly sinking and will lead us to certain Doom? Start listening to your people, otherwise the point of public transport (to cut down car omissions) will only jetpack us into the opposite direction. If I owned a car, I can guarantee I would be using it by now. The metcard wasn’t broken... so why did you try to fix it?
Agreed. I'm still refusing to get a myki. They've taken the metcard machines out of Southern Cross altogether and so in protest I lined up at the booth and bought a 2 hour metcard off the woman in there. How is the new myki system supposed to work for tourists and visitors?
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