4 March 2011

MyWay for everyone from Monday

| johnboy
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my brochure

In the Civic bus interchange this morning more people were reading MyWay brochures than texting on their phones.

Chief Minister Stanhope has explains why by announcing that the cards go live to the general community on Monday 7 March.

Now the following dates are important for bus users:

    — Monday 7 March, MyWay rolled out to general Canberra community

    — Sunday 10 April, Last day for people to use magnetic strip tickets

    — Thursday 30 June, Last day for any value on magnetic strips to be transferred to MyWay cards

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dull_shiny_things3:41 pm 12 Mar 11

I’m am quite excited by our new MyWay Overlords.

I look forward to keeping my MyWay card in my bra between trips and not having to deal with a soggy/bend card by the time I arrive at work in the Summer.

Time4Change said :

Well not quite $65 – for this term factoring in the part months of Feb and April its would have cost $70 – which is a 17% increase. Now what’s the CPI at the moment….

Agreed. But my calculation was done on a yearly basis and then divided by 4. Actual cost will vary from student to student – if they have more than 2 trips per day or catch buses on the weekend then they could pay less.

Stop your whinging Canberrians!!!!!! Holy crap, you have to swipe-off too?! Well, I never…
This MyWay card sounds the same as the GoCard in Brisbane (which caters for buses, trains and ferries/citycats). Believe me, you’ll soon stop forgetting to swipe-off when you keep getting charged at the higher rate. In no time at all, it becomes pure habit. Nothing to get your knickers all in a knot over.

RedDogInCan said :

So this magical system will record when I can’t get on a bus because it is too full or travel by other means because there is no service available. Can’t wait for the next ‘evidence based’ timetable update.

It will record when the bus is at capacity though (ie. full). It doesn’t need to know when you don’t get on a bus.

BTW, picked up my card yesterday, and used it this morning. Meanwhile everyone else still was using their magnetic stripe cards as if nothing had changed.

Last week I was in Leiden, Holland, where I got to see their bus system- which is pretty much like MyWay works. You have to touch your card on the sensor when you get on and when you get off, pretty much like what you have to do now with MyWay, and no one seemed to have any problems with it- it was an natural act. Cash fares for where I had to go, a 20 minute ride, was 4 euros ($5.52), but if you used the card, only 2 euros ($2.76). However, as far as I could tell, there was no cap to the number of paid rides.

Buses pretty much looked like ACTION buses, except that the seating area next to the rear exit doors are where prams are parked. People entered at the front and exited by the rear doors. Bus drivers grumbled and grunted.

The main difference is that buses seemed to be scheduled every quarter hour, so if you missed one you didn’t have to wait long for the next bus. Weirdly people still ran for the bus.

RedDogInCan said :

Watson said :

And that is where the swiping off comes into play: so they can get a picture of the most used routes and destinations and adjust their route planning accordingly.

So this magical system will record when I can’t get on a bus because it is too full or travel by other means because there is no service available. Can’t wait for the next ‘evidence based’ timetable update.

God some of you people cant see past your noses.

Essentially it will, your average bus seats 57 & stands 14. If the bus pulls into Woden & takes on 30 standing passengers as well as the seated passengers then the new system will record this. If every bus from 8 – 9AM was like this then Action could use this data to restructure peak services to acommodate.

The current system cannot do this from what I can see.

There will be a monthly trip cap applied to School tickets: once 26 trips have been taken per calendar month, the remaining trip are free (this include weekend trips). So effectively you pay for 13 days travel and the rest of the month is free. At $0.95 per trip this works out as low $24.70 per month. Of course some months will have fewer than 13 school days. If the card is used only a for school trips it comes out to close to $65 per term when months with fewer than 13 school days are factored in.

Complaints should be directed to Jon Stanhope MLA.

Well not quite $65 – for this term factoring in the part months of Feb and April its would have cost $70 – which is a 17% increase. Now what’s the CPI at the moment….

Watson said :

And that is where the swiping off comes into play: so they can get a picture of the most used routes and destinations and adjust their route planning accordingly.

So this magical system will record when I can’t get on a bus because it is too full or travel by other means because there is no service available. Can’t wait for the next ‘evidence based’ timetable update.

rogueunderscore said :

I remember those people this morning! I didn’t even notice anyone take a photo. That’s quite scary.

Big camera!

And here’s one to help the drivers keep to a timetable:

“You must tag on or off while the bus is stationary. When the bus is moving, the card readers have a message which says the service is unavailable.”

From: http://www.transport.act.gov.au/myway/faqs.html#movingbus

Is there a way you can check your current balance on your MyWay card? Like logging in to some website or something?

Peanut said :

Wonder which happy nitwit designed this system so that you have to swipe on and swipe off. I believe you have to pay more if you forget to swipe off – or perhaps that is an underhand way to get more money out of the punters. Even London Transport can manage with a single swipe for their bus journeys!

I know it works like this in Perth too (and possibly in Brisbane aswell?). There’s very obvious differences between London and Canberra when it comes to planning public transport. And that is where the swiping off comes into play: so they can get a picture of the most used routes and destinations and adjust their route planning accordingly.

Whether that will actually work is a whole other story of course. Only time will tell.

Wonder which happy nitwit designed this system so that you have to swipe on and swipe off. I believe you have to pay more if you forget to swipe off – or perhaps that is an underhand way to get more money out of the punters. Even London Transport can manage with a single swipe for their bus journeys!

ML-585 said :

(A) Keep using your magnetic-strip tickets between now and 10 April.

I have yet to find any information about how the Park n Ride scheme will operate with the new MyWay cards.

If you travel only during peak then keep using your magnetic-strip Faresaver ticket. However if your travel patterns include off-peak times, then MyWay will give cheaper fares. Still a good idea to have both ticket types during the transition period. Thay way you can choose which card to use depending on which equipment is working (or not) on the bus.

Park n Ride details have been released on the Transport for Canberra/MyWay website. Basically you need to have $90 credit on your MyWay card before you can apply for a monthly permit. They will then check your travel history before issuing a permit. (So if you claim to work in the City but never catch a bus there, they may not issue a permit).

Time4Change said :

What a ripoff this is for parents with kids commuting to school.

I was paying $60 per term per kid. Now I’ll be paying 52% or $31.20 more per term per kid under MyWay!!!!!! (this is based on 48 school days per term, 2 trips per day)

There will be a monthly trip cap applied to School tickets: once 26 trips have been taken per calendar month, the remaining trip are free (this include weekend trips). So effectively you pay for 13 days travel and the rest of the month is free. At $0.95 per trip this works out as low $24.70 per month. Of course some months will have fewer than 13 school days. If the card is used only a for school trips it comes out to close to $65 per term when months with fewer than 13 school days are factored in.

Complaints should be directed to Jon Stanhope MLA.

What a ripoff this is for parents with kids commuting to school.

I was paying $60 per term per kid. Now I’ll be paying 52% or $31.20 more per term per kid under MyWay!!!!!! (this is based on 48 school days per term, 2 trips per day)

Where does it end? Flood levy, bank fees, carbon taxes, petrol prices, food prices, electricity prices, water prices, now MyWay fare increases….

rogueunderscore3:09 pm 04 Mar 11

I remember those people this morning! I didn’t even notice anyone take a photo. That’s quite scary.

Chop71 said :

I have about 5 (10 trip) park and ride cards that I have not used. How do I go about getting myway credit for these?

(A) Keep using your magnetic-strip tickets between now and 10 April.
(B) Buy a MyWay card from your local ticket agency for $20
(C) After 11 April you can apply to have the unused value of your magnetic-stripe tickets transferred to your MyWay card. You can either use an online form and mail your unused tickets or do it in person at a MyWay centre.

I have yet to find any information about how the Park n Ride scheme will operate with the new MyWay cards.

smeeagain said :

There is one week of school term left when the magnetic strip tickets can no longer be used. It would have made so much more sense for it to expire at the end of the term as the majority of students would have a term pass.

Term 1 school tickets will be accepted until the end of term. There just won’t be any machine to stick it in after 11 April (or if there is, it won’t be active).

Great planning and implementation. There is one week of school term left when the magnetic strip tickets can no longer be used. It would have made so much more sense for it to expire at the end of the term as the majority of students would have a term pass.

So where’s the poll asking ‘if you were at a bus stop, would you be reading the MyWay brochure or texting on your phone’?

I have about 5 (10 trip) park and ride cards that I have not used. How do I go about getting myway credit for these?

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