Victorians will be able to pay for public transport using their bank cards and smartphones from next year.
The state government revealed the long-awaited change on Friday, saying it would be a staggered rollout beginning with the rail network in early 2026.
More than 20,000 new myki readers are expected to be installed at metropolitan and V/Line stations over the coming months before the tap and go function goes online.
The switch to allow customers to pay using their bank cards, phones and smartwatches would then be gradually rolled out across the entire public transport network, with changes to the bus and tram network to follow rail.
The move followed what the government said was a “successful” start to a contactless payment trial on buses in Wangaratta, in Victoria’s north-east, and would begin with the rail network because of commuters’ heavy reliance on it, Public and Active Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams said.
“As a part our new ticketing system contract we have provided for the replacement and roll out of new ticketing readers,” Williams told reporters on Friday.
“That doesn’t require us to replace all the surrounding infrastructure at the metro tunnel stations … we simply just have to swap out the readers themselves.”
Only full-fare adult tickets would be able to be charged to bank cards and devices at the start of the rollout, before the project was scaled up to include account-based fares, Williams said.
The Age
