We’ve seen Sydney commuters being able to tap on and off trains, busses and ferries with their phones and now it appears the Victorian Government is also looking give their residents the same option – at least as long as they’re using an Android phone.
Transport Victoria is currently looking for 4,000 Victorian commuters over the age of 16 to take part in a trial of the technology.
Users will need a Gmail account, and have an Android phone with NFC built-in running Android 5.0 and above in order to take part in the trial. They should be Myki users too, holding a full-fare, child, senior or general concession Myki card before filling out a survey, after which they may be accepted to the trial.
At least one user on reddit who filled in the survey has now found themselves able to add their Myki card to Google Pay. The Myki implementation in Google Pay allows them to either setup a Myki Pass or use Myki money which can be topped up and spent on a trip-by-trip basis – a handy option for visitors to the state who don’t need an ongoing pass.
According to the redditor if you setup a pass, you can specify the use of the pass in zones 1-14, and select the number of days it should be used for ranging from 7 days, through 28 days, 30 days, 31 days, 33 days, 40 days, 50 days or 60 days.
Payment can be made through a credit card, which doesn’t necessarily have to be supported in Google Pay.
Once setup, users who want to can then choose to transfer their virtual Myki card to another device with the same Google account.
The bonus of this trial is the schadenfreude of watching iOS users complaining about being left out of the trial. Apple has to date refused to allow any third party access to the secure element required for NFC transactions to take place outside of their control. According to an article in The Age, the Victorian government is in talks with Apple about a solution to this issue.
If you’re a Victorian commuter who meets the requirements you can head over to the survey, fill in your details and try your luck getting into the trial.
