City+Living+Metcard



==﻿Metcard is one of Melbourne's two ticketing systems, the other being Myki. Metcard has served Melbourne wellm for nearly 20 years. However, sadly it's going to be phased out in 2011 which will mean we will have to use Myki. In my opinion I think we will continue to use Metcard for years to come. == ==The move towards using Metcard first began in 1992. One year later they gave a contract to OneLink Transist Consortium to design and maintain Metcard. The contract was signed in May 1994. Testing of the Metcard began in December 1993 and was introduced between August 1996 to April 1998. In 2001 the State Government found out that 1 in 4 Metcard Machines didn't work and some machines on buses didn't work. When Metcard was first introduced, there was some controversy such as sacking tram conductors and therefore it became easy for vandals to vandalize the Metcard Machines such as pouring liquid through the coin slot. This has prompted the State Government to redesign the machine to make it less likely to be vandalized. In 2005, OneLink got their contract extended so the government can have time to phase in Myki. The contract also included that the Government can terminate OneLink's contract giving only six months notice. ==

In 2006, V-line was brought under the Metcard system along with the Nightrider bus in 2007. In 2007, Zones 2+3 were merged to form Zone 2.
==Sadly the future of Metcard is very short and it is going to be phased out this decade. The government predicts that Metcard will be phased out in 2011 but I think we will still use Metcards in 2012 because the process from Metcard and Myki has taken a very long time and the cost has blown from $20,000 to $1.35 billion. ==