Greg wrote:
> In Sydney the basic problem is what's the point of having a smart card system when you have a (very) dumb fare system?

>

Not all of Sydney's fare system is dumb. I have nothing against the
idea of a distance based fare, which under all the options and
complexity, is all it is.
A smart-card system that uses the smarts to calculate the correct fare
with a distance-based system is easily doable and done in multiple cities.

The trouble with Sydney is the per km rate varies on distance and mode,
and even on the same mode between different operators.
Why should my colleague who chooses to live 100km out of the city pay a
significantly lower per km rate on the trains than I do who makes only a
12km journey ?. My local privately operated bus routes have
significantly more expensive fares than the 'Government' buses for
distance travelled.

If it was a pure distance based fare, consistent across operators with
'transfer credits' (some what like Singapore) so multi-modal journeys
were not penalised, I'd be happy. Sydney has a sound underlying idea
that has been vandalised.