Myki | Youth Central

myki is Victoria's smartcard ticketing system. It operates on all public transport in metropolitan Melbourne, on V/Line trains, and on many regional town bus services.

Where to use myki

If you're using public transport in Melbourne you need to use myki. The only exceptions to this are: 

If you're using public transport in the rest of Victoria, depending on where you're travelling you may either need to use myki or other kinds of tickets. 

myki tickets are required for travel on the following V/Line services: 

  • Geelong
  • Ballarat
  • Bendigo
  • Traralgon
  • Seymour

Other services in Victoria may use paper tickets. For more about whether or not you need to use myki when travelling outside of Melbourne, visit the V/Line Ticketing & myki page.

myki is also in use on some regional and rural Victorian town bus services. For full information about which local buses use myki, visit the Public Transport Victoria regional town bus ticketing page.

How to use myki

myki's reusable smartcard is easy to use. You top up your money before your journey, then touch on and touch off at a myki reader as you travel. The main thing to remember about myki is "the three Ts":

1. Top up

Before your journey, make sure you have enough money to cover your travel. Places you can top up include:

  • myki machines at train stations and tram stops
  • 7-Eleven stores in Melbourne
  • PTV Hubs
  • online

Note: Machines are not available on trams or buses, so you have to make sure you have enough myki funds for your journey.

For a full list of places you can top up, check out the PTV website's Top up a myki page.

2. Touch on

At the beginning of your journey, you must use your myki to touch on at the readers located at the entrance or exit of train stations, and at the doors of trams and buses.

Note that you don't need to touch on if you're using a tram in the Free Tram Zone in the Melbourne CBD, or if you're on the City Circle tram. 

3. Touch off

Touch off at the reader the end of your journey and the system will automatically calculate the lowest fare, based on how far you’ve travelled.

If you don't touch off, you'll be automatically charged in the following ways:

  • for trams and trains in Melbourne, you'll be charged for a 2-hour metro fare
  • for buses in Melbourne, you'll be charged for travel to the furthest point possible from where you touched on
  • for trains and road coaches in the rest of Victoria, you'll be charged for a 2-hour fare to the end of the line. 

If you want to discuss a fare you don't think should have been charged to your myki, you can contact myki through their online contact form. If you're not happy with their response, you can make a complaint.

Where to buy and top up mkyi

You can order your new myki, register it and top it up whenever you like online at Public Transport Victoria's mkyi page or over the phone by calling 1800 800 007.

As well as the above, at the moment you can also purchase and top-up a myki at

  • premium railway stations that include myki ticket offices
  • PTV Hubs
  • all metropolitan train stations and some accessible tram stops and bus interchanges (full fare card sales only)

or from over 800 retail outlets, including:

  • 7-Eleven stores in Melbourne
  • selected Australia Post outlets in regional Victoria

For a full list of places to buy a mkyi, check out the list of myki retail outlets.

The difference between myki passes and myki money 

There are two ways to pay for travel using a myki smartcard: mkyi pass and myki money. Both kinds of payment are handled by your myki card.

  • myki pass is like a monthly or yearly ticket, but it has more options. You decide which zone(s) you will travel in and how many days you want to travel for, seven days or anywhere between 28 and 365.
  • myki money basically means pay-as-you-go. You top up your smartcard with money (for example, $20) and when you touch on and off, the system gives you the best fare for your trip.

If you use myki money you must remember to touch on and off to get the best fare for your trip. 

If you don’t touch off at the end of your trip, the system doesn’t know where you have travelled to and has to charge a default fare. This may be more than you wanted to pay, so to make you always get the best fare, touch on and touch off every time you travel.

For more information about tickets and fares, visit our Public transport page.

Register and protect your myki

Registering your myki is a good idea because if it's lost or stolen you can report it so that your balance can be frozen. Any money on your card will be protected. Your myki money or pass can then be transferred to a new smartcard.

You can register either when you buy your myki, or at a later date.

Registration also lets you set up automatic top-ups, so if your balance falls below a certain amount (for example, below $10) your myki is automatically topped up by direct debit from your bank account.

Visit the PTV website to find out more about myki registration.

Authorised officers

Public Transport Victoria employs staff called "authorised officers" to inspect tickets on the public transport system.

Authorised officers can't issue you with a fine. They can, however: 

  • check your ticket and concession card
  • ask to take your ticket as evidence
  • ask for your name, address and proof of identity
  • report you 
  • arrest you until the police arrive (if you refuse to help them with the things listed above).

When dealing with an authorised officer it's important that you understand your rights so they can't make you do anything you're not legally required to do. PTV's Authorised Officers page has information about authorised officers, including their powers and the code of conduct they have to follow. 

If you get reported by an authorised officer, you could be sent a warning, a fine or even a court summons. To find out more about public transport fines, visit PTV's Transport fines page.

Making a complaint

If you want to dispute a fare that's been charged to your myki, you can contact myki through their online contact form and discuss the issue with them. 

If you want to request a review of a fine that you've received, the Transport Infringements - internal review page has information about how to do it.

If you're not happy about something to do with public transport in Victoria, you can provide feedback to PTV through the PTV Feedback and complaints page, which has information to help you get through to the right person.

You can also write to them at:

Customer Relations
Public Transport Victoria
PO Box 4724
Melbourne Victoria 3001

If you're not satisfied with the response you get to your feedback, you can also discuss matters with the Public Transport Ombudsman, a not-for-profit, independent organisation that works to resolve complaints about public transport in Victoria.