Every single state Labor MP up to and including the premier has gone into overdrive promoting the free statewide travel for under 18s that applies from January 1, 2026.
Why wouldn't they? It could save people money and it's an election year after all!
The problem arises with what happens next. Let's assume people do as the advertising tells them to do and try to learn more on the Transport Victoria website.
Let's also assume this is part of getting ready for the new year. People might start school, change schools, switch jobs, get older and a myriad of other things that causes a change of travel habits with implications for public transport ticketing. There may be non-typical travel such as during holidays and to special events like the Australian Open. There also needs to be messaging over Christmas and New Years travel arrangements, not to mention the annual 1 January CPI fare rise.
Most of the above happens every year, though albeit with additional complexities in 2025-26 due to (i) the Youth Myki introduction, (ii) weekend free travel extensions for Seniors and (iii) the Metro Tunnel opening and associated free weekend travel promotions over December-January.
Still, all this was known and planned in advance. So there are no excuses for DTP/Transport Victoria not to get everything sorted, including website information and messaging. Especially given all the media and public interest generated.
Transport Victoria ticketing website a mess
On this the Myki types section of the Transport Victoria website is an absolute binfire that has only got worse since the January 1 Youth Myki introduction.
Suppose you are a parent or guardian of three children aged 17, 18 and 19.
Each should be old enough to work out which myki they need. But for this exercise suppose that you try it. The 17 year old is probably the easiest, the 19 year old's ticket will depend on their circumstances while the 18 year old's arrangements should be much easier to find out about than it is.
Though even for the 17 year old you may still be fumbling. For example if you saw the publicity about free and 17 year old then you might think that clicking free travel myki would help. But no it doesn't. Although 17 year olds get free travel it's not explained here as the Youth Myki they need is somewhere else. It affects only a small minority but the section below on home-schooled students introduces unnecessary ambiguity.
Knowing which Myki to buy should be a 10 second decision. Instead Transport Victoria makes it 10 minutes (or more) with no guarantee people will get it right.
Transport Victoria's fares and ticketing messaging really needs to be clear and watertight because adverse consequences can result including heavy fines (the human impacts of which should be especially understood post Robodebt).
Other risks can arise from appeals being successful, the poor perception of AOs and fare compliance collapsing (as we have already seen on buses). This has serious consequences for both goodwill and foregone revenue for the public transport network that DTP apparently willingly leaves on the table.
If the law basically says "ignorance is no excuse" when it comes to fare infractions then there should be a concomitant obligation on DTP to make all reasonable attempts to explain ticketing well.
Even a cursory glance at the Transport Victoria website shows that they have failed here with this becoming more complex in the older teenager range (with youth justice implications here too).
While the legal instrument is the gazetted Victorian Fares and Ticketing Conditions 2026 manual, 99.9% of people will be relying on the above Transport Victoria website, especially given the gradual phase-out of brochures that used to explain ticketing conditions. Those relying on the Transport Victoria website include transport operator staff who may be asked for advice on tickets to buy. As well as others in social and community services who may have a non-transport background.
Even a cursory glance at the Transport Victoria website shows that they have failed here with this becoming more complex in the older teenager range (with youth justice implications here too).
While the legal instrument is the gazetted Victorian Fares and Ticketing Conditions 2026 manual, 99.9% of people will be relying on the above Transport Victoria website, especially given the gradual phase-out of brochures that used to explain ticketing conditions. Those relying on the Transport Victoria website include transport operator staff who may be asked for advice on tickets to buy. As well as others in social and community services who may have a non-transport background.
The ticket type for you
Having established that Transport Victoria does not do its job of simply and concisely explain suitable Myki card types, is it possible for someone else to have a go?
Sometimes the task is impossible. For example public holiday arrangements for Melbourne buses are inherently so complex that it require a thesis-length essay to explain. Transport Victoria sometimes tries but often get it wrong. TV should do better but the root cause lies in the complexity of arrangements (that no one has yet found the couple of million dollars per year to fix, although 2025-26 finally saw the end of reduced summer weekday timetables with routes 503 and 506 being the hold-outs).
Happily Myki types are simpler. It's true that there are various non-myki free travel passes and other tickets (mainly used for regional areas). But for overwhelming majority of passengers in places where about 90% of Victorians live it's not too complex.
Unlike Transport Victoria, which shies away from graphics to explain things, I have no such constraints. Here's my go at explaining Myki types available:
Sometimes the task is impossible. For example public holiday arrangements for Melbourne buses are inherently so complex that it require a thesis-length essay to explain. Transport Victoria sometimes tries but often get it wrong. TV should do better but the root cause lies in the complexity of arrangements (that no one has yet found the couple of million dollars per year to fix, although 2025-26 finally saw the end of reduced summer weekday timetables with routes 503 and 506 being the hold-outs).
Happily Myki types are simpler. It's true that there are various non-myki free travel passes and other tickets (mainly used for regional areas). But for overwhelming majority of passengers in places where about 90% of Victorians live it's not too complex.
Unlike Transport Victoria, which shies away from graphics to explain things, I have no such constraints. Here's my go at explaining Myki types available:
It misses some things (like where to buy Myki cards, non-card options and fare types) but I think it still tells quite a lot.
If you wanted to distil this down to a series of question (such as if you prefer flow charts or are handling a telephone enquiry) you would start with asking the person's age.
This narrows it down a lot. Because there are certain age groups (most notably all under 19s) for which there is just one ticket option. That ticket option is a Youth Myki for those under 18 and a Concession Myki for those in the 18 to 19 range, regardless of circumstance. Those turning 19 flip to full fare unless they can demonstrate continued eligibility for concession fares (eg being a local full time student).
Over 60s are almost as simple. In all but a few cases they would have a Seniors Card and thus the appropriate concession. An even smaller number (not shown) are the full time working Seniors whose income is low enough to get a concession.
That leaves those between 19 and 60 that are overwhelmingly either full or concession fare myki. This requires further questions, such as asking about student status (mostly for younger people) or various other concession eligibility. And there is what is effectively a subsection of concession fare myki that gives similar free weekend travel privileges that Seniors get.
Summary
If you wanted to distil this down to a series of question (such as if you prefer flow charts or are handling a telephone enquiry) you would start with asking the person's age.
This narrows it down a lot. Because there are certain age groups (most notably all under 19s) for which there is just one ticket option. That ticket option is a Youth Myki for those under 18 and a Concession Myki for those in the 18 to 19 range, regardless of circumstance. Those turning 19 flip to full fare unless they can demonstrate continued eligibility for concession fares (eg being a local full time student).
Over 60s are almost as simple. In all but a few cases they would have a Seniors Card and thus the appropriate concession. An even smaller number (not shown) are the full time working Seniors whose income is low enough to get a concession.
That leaves those between 19 and 60 that are overwhelmingly either full or concession fare myki. This requires further questions, such as asking about student status (mostly for younger people) or various other concession eligibility. And there is what is effectively a subsection of concession fare myki that gives similar free weekend travel privileges that Seniors get.
Summary
Transport Victoria has excelled in meeting the low expectations people have of its website.
Especially in public transport fares and ticketing - a high profile area that is politically sensitive and involves legal enforcement.
As is possible, TV could and should be doing much better in explaining ticketing to people, especially given recent changes, and especially at this time of year.
Especially in public transport fares and ticketing - a high profile area that is politically sensitive and involves legal enforcement.
As is possible, TV could and should be doing much better in explaining ticketing to people, especially given recent changes, and especially at this time of year.
3 comments:
Give them a break: they’re public servants who only had six months to figure this out.
Its good to see these issues being discussed. Poor information communication has real impacts on people and their trust of and reliance on public transport. A large government agency like this has no excuse to be this poor at website design
Only PCC with a Disability support Pension marked on it get free weekend travel.
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