ARARAT commuters appear unlikely to be able to use the MYKI ticketing system anytime soon, despite the technology being available at Ararat Railway Station.<\/p>\n
MYKI readers were rolled out across the Victorian rail network in 2007 \u2013 including at Ararat Station – but 15 years later the electronic ticketing system remains unavailable to travellers beyond the major regional centres.<\/p>\n
It means someone travelling from Ararat to Melbourne has to purchase a paper ticket, while people catching the same train from Ballarat can use their MYKI card for their journey as well as on the suburban rail, tram and bus network.<\/p>\n
A government spokesperson told the Advocate the Department of Transport is currently working with shortlisted suppliers to identify options and opportunities to expand the smartcard ticketing system to other areas of Victoria, as well as to \u201cimprove the ticketing experience\u201d, to make technology and efficiency gains.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re undertaking a procurement process for the continued operation and upgrade of the MYKI public transport ticketing system,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe process will review options for ticketing solutions that are state-wide and ensure it meets the needs of Victorians for years to come,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Currently, a V\/Line single or return paper ticket includes two hours of free travel either side of the V\/Line journey within metropolitan Melbourne or on the regional city transport network (as specified on the ticket) for two hours before and two hours after the V\/Line journey.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said all other paper ticket types, including daily, weekly and monthly include free travel all day in metropolitan Melbourne.<\/p>\n
The Member for Ripon Louise Staley said it was high time the convenience of the MYKI system was rolled out beyond Ballarat and Bendigo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Myki readers at Ararat and Beaufort have been there for years, and it\u2019s well past time that they are turned on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Andrews Labor Government has had years to instigate a review of the ticketing system. While it\u2019s good a review is at last occurring, I am disappointed that in 2022 the government has not guaranteed that all Victorians will be able to use an electronic ticketing system,\u201d Ms Staley said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ARARAT commuters appear unlikely to be able to use the MYKI ticketing system anytime soon, despite the technology being available at Ararat Railway Station.
\nMYKI readers were rolled out across the Victorian rail network in 2007 \u2013 including at Ararat Station – but 15 years later the electronic ticketing system remains unavailable to travellers beyond the major regional centres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[31],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/IMG_3390-scaled.jpg?fit=1707%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdqUu4-ik","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1136"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}