Public Transport Victoria app 4+

I was shocked to find this klutzy app and transport ticket system in Australia which has so many smoothly operating systems and well-thought through processes. As a tourist, passing through for two days, I downloaded the app, thinking I could finally use Victorian public transport easily. But no such thing. The app requires you to have a physical myki card to sign up. (Huh!?) but no problem, I had a myki card from my last trip to Victoria. But no, it had expired! (Huh!?) no problem, I was outside a newsagent so i figured I could delay my trip by ten minutes to go get a new card, but there was a big “no myki here” sign inside. Finally I found a seven eleven that sold physical cards but the lady told me to stand aside so she could serve other customers first (I guess myki is also klutzy and slow to sell…) but then she tells me it is six dollars for my card and three dollars each for my kids and mother… $18 before we could even fill the cards with fares. Then she tells me it’s free to ride in the city anyway so we jumó on a tram without getting a ticket, but apparently the free zone only goes a little way and drops you in a newsagency-free zone! So then we were stuck on the middle of nowhere with no way to get a ticket for our transport. Which Einstein designed this system?

Public transit is so convenient when you're a tourist so that you don't have to get a rental car or take taxis all the time. Clearly nobody at the Victoria transit authority has ever considered this use-case. Getting a myki card is inconvenient in the first place compared to many other locales where you can either tap your credit/debit card directly or use your phone to pay - public transit is atrocious in the US, but this they often get right, so I was expecting more from Aus. Then you have to top it up, which they've made very inconvenient again. Online it says to use this app to top up instantly, but this app requires you to have an Aussie phone number to sign up or sign in. Online top up requires you to have an Aussie credit card. So then the only option left is to physically top it up at a shop, and better hope there is one near wherever you need it when you run out, because they aren't just at every tram station. Just get rid of all the restrictions and integrate with Wallet instead of having your own app, please.

Echoing comments from many other reviewers who are trying to use this app to check a balance or refill a card quickly. The process is however more cumbersome then signing into a banking app and requires so many local details that of course are not relevant to visitors whether from far off or other parts of Australia. As a result, what seems like a great app is all but unusable, particularly when it’s most needed (like waiting for a bus and wanting to add funds).