Myki
Operation
### Operation

Passengers can purchase a rechargeable Myki smartcard from the ticket office at a staffed railway station, Myki machines at railway stations and major bus and tram interchanges (full fare only), the PTV Hub at [Southern Cross railway station](/wiki/Southern_Cross_railway_station "Southern Cross railway station"), from a retailer (including most [7\-Eleven](/wiki/7-Eleven "7-Eleven") outlets) displaying the Myki sign, online at ptv.vic.gov.au, or by phoning [Public Transport Victoria](/wiki/Public_Transport_Victoria "Public Transport Victoria"). Cards cannot be bought onboard trams or buses. A full fare card costs $6, and a concession or child card costs $3\.

After acquiring a Myki, the passenger needs to add value onto the card, in a process called "topping up". The value stored on the card is called "Myki money". Top up is available at the same places as card purchase, or "auto top up" can be set up to recharge the card from a linked credit card or bank account automatically when the Myki money balance falls to a set threshold. Top up is also available using the PTV app.

To use Myki when travelling, a passenger holds the card against a reader (called "touching on" or "touching off"). Passengers touch on at the start of a trip and (except for a tram trip within Zone 1) touch off at the end of the trip, at which point the appropriate fare is assessed and deducted from the stored Myki money value on the card. If the fare for a trip is greater than the stored Myki money balance remaining, the card will show a negative Myki money balance, in which case it cannot be touched on again until it has been topped up to reach a positive amount of money. Passengers do not need to touch on or off for tram trips entirely within the city's "Free Tram Zone", which covers roughly the [CBD](/wiki/Melbourne_CBD "Melbourne CBD").


How do I know when my Myki card needs to be topped up?