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| Sunday, May 17, 10:31:08am | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: PLASTIC smart cards will replace the failed Metcard ticket system on Melbourne's trams, trains and buses under a $400 million plan. | |
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Author: May 25, 2003Hi-tech system to replace Metcard |
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Date Posted: Monday, May 26, 10:24:55am In reply to: Newspapers reporting result--March 7 2003 SMH 's message, "Noteholders have tickets to ride" on Thursday, March 06, 08:38:56am http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6490532%5E26462,00.html ----------------------------------------------------------- Hi-tech system to replace Metcard By Sue Hewitt May 25, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------- PLASTIC smart cards will replace the failed Metcard ticket system on Melbourne's trams, trains and buses under a $400 million plan. ----------------------------------------------------------- The commuter-friendly electronic swipe cards are designed to make ticketing easier and do away with queues. ----------------------------------------------------------- Passengers will simply pass their card across a scanner. ----------------------------------------------------------- The e-tag style card has a monetary value that can be topped up, and fares are deducted from it. ----------------------------------------------------------- The cashless ticketing system will be introduced in 2007, when the Government's contract with Metcard supplier, OneLink, expires. ----------------------------------------------------------- The Government has allocated $3.9 million in the Budget for the first year of a four-year program to develop the system. ----------------------------------------------------------- But the Sunday Herald Sun understands the supply of the card system will cost more than $100 million, while operating costs could be as high as $300 million over 10 years. ----------------------------------------------------------- This is in line with the NSW Government's $370 million, 10-year deal to introduce the cards later this year. ----------------------------------------------------------- Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor said electronic smart cards were the next generation in ticketing technology - making Metcards, which used magnetised strips, obsolete. ----------------------------------------------------------- "We believe smart cards are the way to go," he said. ----------------------------------------------------------- Mr Batchelor said cost estimates would be drawn up and fine details of the system worked out before tenders were sought. ----------------------------------------------------------- He vowed that the new system would avoid the "debacle" of OneLink's Metcard, which resulted in passengers deserting the system and fare evasion soaring to $50 million a year. ----------------------------------------------------------- The Sunday Herald Sun revealed flaws in the Metcard system with an unprecedented survey of the entire rail network in 2001. It found one in four ticket machines was defective. ----------------------------------------------------------- As a result, Mr Batchelor ordered an independent audit of the system. ----------------------------------------------------------- When Metcards are replaced in March, 2007, the fare structure will remain the same and a small cash ticket system will service infrequent travellers who do not have smart cards. ----------------------------------------------------------- Mr Batchelor said smart card systems across the world were being studied to ensure the Government "takes the time to actually get it right". ----------------------------------------------------------- He said the Kennett Government had not done its homework before awarding the ticketing contract in 1997. ----------------------------------------------------------- "That was a debacle from the Government's, contractors' and taxpayers' point of view," Mr Batchelor said. ----------------------------------------------------------- Mr Batchelor said he was excited about sophisticated applications of the smart card but the priority was to make sure an electronic ticketing system worked. ----------------------------------------------------------- The Government will make significant savings on the annual cost of collecting $350 million in fares. Until electronic smart cards are introduced, the bulk of this money will be coins. ----------------------------------------------------------- The card has the potential to be an e-purse, storing value that can be used for CityLink tolls, fast-food outlets, parking meters, newsagents, photograph booths and school canteens. ----------------------------------------------------------- The cards, which are used in Hong Kong, London and other cities, can award bonus points to be used as discounts on future fares. ----------------------------------------------------------- Experts say the new system will be more reliable because the scanning machines are electronic and, unlike the coin ticket machines, do not have moving parts to wear out. ----------------------------------------------------------- They are also less vulnerable to vandalism. ----------------------------------------------------------- Public transport operators spent $600,000 last year to protect ticket machines from vandals. ----------------------------------------------------------- NSW has awarded a contract to ERG, the Perth-based multinational parent of OneLink, which will phase in the smart cards later this year with a fully operational system by 2006. ----------------------------------------------------------- Sunday Herald Sun ----------------------------------------------------------- [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Mr Batchelor said cost estimates would be drawn up and fine details of the system worked out before tenders were sought. | Melbourne 25/5/03 | Wednesday, May 28, 01:22:05am |