Myki weekend cap to increase to $6. Two hour tickets to now be two hours and not rounded to the next hour.

Two changes to the Myki users need to be aware off.

Myki cap will jump from $3.50 to $6,... read more. 

The first is the Myki cap for weekend travel will increase from $3.50 to $6. The second is the two hour ticket will be two hours from the time you touch on and no longer be rounded to the next hour. Both of these benefits have encouraged me to use the public transport system in the past and to travel by public transport on the weekend rather than using the car. At $6 that benefit has now gone and I'm unlikely to use public transport in preference to the car. This is of course revenue raising by the government.

This is an interesting tactic by the government. It is very similar to how businesses operate. If you have a captive market you can increase your prices and people will still use the services. The drop in use is often much less than the increase in profit. Similar to how the government increases the price of cigarettes and whilst some people stop smoking, the revenue increase exceeds the loss by those who stop using the product or service. 

The bottom line is potentially a 71% increase for weekend travel and could require some people to purchase a second two hour trip/all day trip, where previously it would not have been be required. 

As an example a quick return trip from Templestowe to Hawthorn takes about 3 hours on a weekend (40 minutes by car) and could be done using either a two hour trip with the right timing or the $3.50 cap. Whilst this is not time efficient, it can be cost efficient. Now I wouldn't hesitate to simply use the car. A trip for two using public transport on the weekend was OK in terms of cost, even it wasn't particularly convenient or time efficient. Now I'll simply use the car. 

If I seem to recall correctly, when Myki was introduced the $3 all day weekend maximum was a selling point over the Metcard. I can't recall the old prices, but I have a feeling in just a couple of years the Myki benefit for weekend travel has now gone and Metcard may have had cheaper options such as the Sunday Saver.

From the article I was not able to ascertain when these changes will start, but believe these changes will take effect from the 1st of January 2014.

Kelvin Eldridge