Sunday, May 31, 2009

Myki - coins, cards and notes

One of the great benefits of Metcard machines was that they still accept 5 cent pieces long after other vending machines ditched them. You couldn't put too many in at a time (as the machine would time out and/or exceed a limit) but it was a useful disposal mechanism for the pesky little echidna, which by itself is worthless for anything except for a single resistor from Dick Smith.

Will Myki machines accept 5 cent pieces? This picture from The Age has outlines for all coins except 5 cents, so the answer is probably not.

Myki ticket vending machine

Will the reduced acceptance pose problems for passengers with the wrong change? IF it does it will only be for a little while since the days of the five cent piece appear numbered.

At the other end of the scale are the largest notes. The sticker on the machine pictures shows it accepts $5, 10, 20 & 50 notes. So no $100 notes. But going on the picture above, credit cards will also be accepted; currently it is EFTPOS only.

The big question is how much change the new machines will dispense as the machine pictured appeared not to have a notice. The larger Metcard machines have a $10 maximum change limit, making $20 notes unusable for the bulk of tickets (which cost under $10). While the limit lowers emptying and maintenance costs, it reduces ease of compliance and gives fare evaders another excuse to try on authorised officers.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Check out the machines yourself if you want, they are now being rolled out across the Connex network, starting on the Werribee line. Footscray and possibly Seddon already have them.