Public Transport - Metcards

[Ninox]

I'm wondering what would be the best option in terms of flexibility for metcards I'll be using for uni.
For a bit of background, I live about 20mins from Monash Clayton campus (zone 2) and will be going there monday-friday, 2 trips each day for a total of 10 trips. There might be occasional forays into zone 1 for other purposes.
10x2hr, 5 x Daily and Weekly concession are the same price at $9.60. Any thoughts on advantages/disadvantages of each? For example, does using a weekly lock you in to travel only on the seven consecutive days after validation while a 5xDaily can be used on any mix of 5 days?

[Collin Li]

Using a weekly locks you into a consecutive 7 day period (after validation), yes.

That is the only reason why a weekly would be priced the same as a 5 x Daily or 10 x 2-hour, or else nobody would buy them (preferring the former instead). The latter two options give you more flexibility, so you have to pay an extra cost for it (costs the same as a 7-day period).

But between the latter two options, the 5 x Daily is actually completely redundant compared to the 10 x 2-hour. The 10 x 2-hour should cost a bit more, because if you use more than 2 trips per day on your 10 x 2-hour, the second trip will last until 3 am the next morning, which means you effectively have 5 dailys, with added flexibility. For example, you might only need to use one 2-hour trip on the weekends rather than for a whole day, and with the 5 x Daily, you would consume one-fifth of your ticket, whereas with the 10 x 2-hour, you would only consume one-tenth of your ticket. There should be a price for that added flexibility, but there isn't, so there is absolutely no reason to buy the 5 x Daily - get the 10 x 2-hour instead, it does everything the 5 x Daily can, but better.

I guess maybe the added cost of having to remember to validate on trams and at suburban train stations (that have no barrier) with the 10 x 2-hour may offset the benefit of added flexibility, I'm not sure . Although, in terms of deterring users from fare evasion, flexibility is a cost to Connex: fare evaders can freely validate only when necessary, and are not bundled into paying for longer time-frames than necessary. It is in the interests of Connex to charge you more for the flexibility, and it also makes sense to charge more for the added convenience of flexibility for the consumer - an example of a win-win situation for the consumer and the supplier.

Haha... that's Collin's economic analysis of the day.

This should simplify your choice to one between a Weekly and a 10 x 2-hour. Keep in mind that the 10 x 2-hour essentially offers 5 daily trips, unless they are within 2 hours (or up to 3 hours, since it rounds up to the next hour), which will offer more. The weekly effectively offers 7 daily trips within a week. Assess what type of travel you are doing in a week, and compare.

[Eriny]

When I only travelled home from school (and not to school) 10x2hrs lasted two weeks, which was awesome. So, I guess it depends how many times you'll travel a day. If it's 2 times or less, as you say, the 10x2hr is the way to go. When I had to travel both ways, to and from school, I had a yearly ticket (the bonus of that is that it covered all zones). I'm not sure if uni students can actually get those. If not, you might figure out that a monthly ticket is the way to go during the months you'll be going into uni everyday.

Also, look at the off-peak daily saver if your mornings aren't too early (i.e. if you buy the ticket after 9am), that might be cheaper as well.

[Collin Li]

Yeah, I actually use a Monthly too. I got too caught up in analysing the three that you wanted me to, and forgot to suggest that you may have made an error in judgement.

Tertiary Concession Yearly's cost a lot more than Secondary ones... I don't think it's a good option (from when I last checked).

[Ninox]

For yearly's you're also paying for all the holidays and weekends when you wouldnt be using your metcard anyway. $748 zone 2 yearly concession.

I didnt know there was a distinction between Tertiary and secondary concessions. The Fares guide just says "concession." http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/fares_tickets/metropolitan_fares_and_tickets

[Collin Li]

It was a lot cheaper than $748 when I got it in high school (in the order of 300, I think).

[excal]

Yeah, about $330 or so.

[bilgia]

ahh sucks how we cannot buy teh student yearly ticket.
i need zone 1+2, wondering which ticket option is the right one

[bubble sunglasses]

  One of my friends never bought a ticket in his 3 years in Melbourne to date

[Eriny]

^ that's fair enough. I caught trains on an almost daily basis from year 7 to year 12 and I've seen a ticket inspector twice (once in year 11, once in year 12). I would have ended up saving a lot of money had I just not bought tickets.

Although, out of curiosity, how did he get past the gates in the city?

[Collin Li]

Connex should charge more for flexible tickets, as it allows people to fare evade more flexibly: Validate when necessary, for the price of 2-hours after travelling 3 years on public transport. I still don't get why the price of a 5 x Daily is the same as a 10 x 2-hour.

Who thinks my economic analysis was an interesting read? If you want to read more about incentives and unintended consequences, read Freakonomics and The Undercover Economist. They are light, interesting and politically-neutral reads.

[Mao]

Connex should charge more for flexible tickets, as it allows people to fare evade more flexibly: Validate when necessary, for the price of 2-hours after travelling 3 years on public transport. I still don't get why the price of a 5 x Daily is the same as a 10 x 2-hour.

flexible tickets should be priced higher than others, but the price for public transport should come down full stop. The service they're delivering is a joke when you pay that much for it....

[excal]

Blame the fare evaders.

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, people evade due to high cost which causes costs to get higher, causing more people to evade.

They really need to jack those fines up majorly to cover all costs and create a major disincentive to evade (and maybe have more inspectors to enforce the law?). A friend of mine did an analysis of fare evading and how long it would take before the cost of the fine was actually cheaper than buying tickets properly. It wasn't very long at all...

[cara.mel]

They need ticket inspectors on buses then. I've gone 3 years on them travelling with concession cards without actually having a concession thingy and in my life have not seen a ticket inspector.
Having said that, if I'm not lazy today I'll make the trip to a train station so I can finally legally use my cards XD

(whenever I go to trains I buy the full fee ones, but I've only done that 3-4 times in like, ever. )

[Collin Li]

A friend of mine did an analysis of fare evading and how long it would take before the cost of the fine was actually cheaper than buying tickets properly. It wasn't very long at all...

Liar, it was about 3 months.

All I'm saying is that the increase in fare for flexible tickets (or a decrease in fare for inflexible tickets) is in line with consumer demand  and also helps Connex prevent flexible fare evasion. They might need to increase the fines, they might need to increase enforcement, but there is one immediate error that sticks out - the price of the 5 x Daily and 10 x 2-hour. It doesn't make sense.