By REBECCA BILLS
MYKI is now available in Mount Evelyn after a year-long battle to secure the Mount Evelyn Post Office as a licensed Myki retail agent.
After numerous rejected applications to Myki by Mount Evelyn Post Office manager Kathie Freeman, Mrs Freeman took the matter to local MP Christine Fyffe.
“Too me it seemed ridiculous that they weren’t allowing a Myki outlet in Mount Evelyn,” she said.
Myki is a reusable smart card ticket to travel on Melbourne’s trains, trams and buses and works by a ‘top-up’ system at designated train stations, retailers, all 7-Eleven stores and online
Mrs Freeman said the closest outlet that you can purchase a Myki card or ‘top-up’ is in Lilydale or online.
“Internet access throughout Mount Evelyn is very hit and miss and depending on locality people don’t have access to the top-up facilities,” she said.
“I wrote to Christine as I saw it as a need, as did she.”
Local MP Christine Fyffe said her request for action to Parliament last year really got the ball rolling in getting the department to look at licensing the venue.
“Kathie told me how she was having up to two customers a day coming in wanting to know if she sold Myki,” she said.
“When we looked at it, it seemed illogical that we have a town of this size and people often catching buses that are not going anywhere near Lilydale Train Station.”
Mrs Fyffe said there was an assumption that everyone has a home computer with internet access, however about 20 per cent of households in the area do not.
“If you don’t have a home computer and can’t get to the train station or another Myki outlet it’s impossible to travel,” she said.
“It was Kathie’s dedication and hard work that helped persuade Myki that it was worth giving it a trial here in Mount Evelyn.”
Mrs Freeman said Myki will be monitoring the sales from the store over the next 12 months and if successful a model will be set up for other locations in a similar predicament as Mount Evelyn.
For more information on Myki, visit ptv.vic.gov.au/tickets/myki/.
