Melbourne Public Transport 2026: myki, Contactless and the Free Tram Zone

You do not need a myki card to ride in Melbourne. If you pay full fare, you can tap on with a Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card, a phone or a smartwatch on trains, trams and buses in the myki area. Fares are the same as myki fares. Until 1 January 2027, public transport in Victoria is half price, and the daily cap is $5.70 on weekdays and $4.00 on weekends. Trams inside the Free Tram Zone (the CBD and Docklands) are free and need no tap at all. There is no train to Melbourne Airport yet; the main public-transport link is the SkyBus, which does not use myki.

How do you pay: contactless or myki?

PTV's visitor page gives you two options: contactless payment or myki, Victoria's smart card.

Contactless works like paying in a shop.

• You can use a Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card, or the same card stored in your phone's digital wallet, or a smartwatch.
• It is for full fare only. If you hold a concession card, are a senior or are under 18, the official pages tell you to keep using your concession or Youth myki instead.
• Tap on when you start, and tap off the same way. Use the same card or device for both taps, and use the same payment method for the whole journey to get the best fare.
• Have enough money for the journey before you tap. Take the card out of your wallet first.
• Depending on your bank, it can take up to 3 days for the payment to show in your account, and you may see a pending amount before the daily fare is calculated.
• You can view the last 7 days of contactless travel history on the official contactless portal.

myki is the reloadable card. The PTV myki page lists a card cost of $6 for a full-fare card ($3 concession, $5 youth), and you top it up separately before you travel. You can buy one at staffed stations, 7-Eleven or online, and top up instantly in the PTV app. An online top-up takes 45 minutes to reach the card, and you must tap on or off at a reader for it to apply. Mobile myki is a digital myki in Google Wallet and is Android only (Android 9 or higher, with NFC). If you carry both Mobile myki and a bank card on the same phone, the reader always uses Mobile myki when using express transit.

When did contactless start?

Contactless is no longer a trial. According to the state government's releases:

The 16 July release told passengers to look for a Visa or Mastercard logo on the bus reader during the rollout. That period has now passed, and Transport Victoria's tap and go page says contactless works on trains, trams and buses in the myki area.

What do fares and caps cost right now?

Public transport is half price across Victoria until 1 January 2027. The Tickets and payments page says the caps below reflect that discount. A cap is the most you pay in one day; once you reach it, travel is free for the rest of the day.

Below the cap, what you pay depends on how far you go. From 1 January 2027 standard fares apply. The daily cap still exists, but the official pages read for this guide give no standard dollar amounts, no exact 2-hour fare and no myki Pass prices. Those are in the PTV fare tables; if your trip runs past the end of the year, look them up before you budget.

The same cap logic covers regional Victoria: PTV says regional fare caps mean you pay the same as a metropolitan daily fare for all-day travel on any train, tram or bus in the state.

What is the Free Tram Zone?

The Free Tram Zone covers the CBD and Docklands. Trams there are free, and you do not need a myki when you only travel inside it. That includes the City Circle tram (route 35), which stops in Docklands and along the city edge, at places such as Waterfront City, Docklands Stadium, Flagstaff Station, Melbourne Central and Melbourne Aquarium. The exact boundary is drawn on PTV's Free Tram Zone map (PDF).

Two rules to remember:

• Do not tap on inside the zone. If you tap on with a myki card by accident, you are charged a 2-hour fare for Zone 1+2. To be reimbursed, you must tap off within the Free Tram Zone.
• If your trip starts or ends outside the zone, use your myki or contactless payment as normal.

Do you tap off?

It depends on the mode. This is PTV's table for visitors:

So you only tap off a tram if you are in Zone 2. The zones are shown on PTV's tram network map. On trains and buses, always tap off; on trams, follow the zone rules above.

Trains, trams and buses: myki Money and myki Pass

Trains, trams and buses in Melbourne share one fare system, and the same card or device works on all of them. PTV's own line is that you can step off a train and straight onto a tram with the same phone, watch or bank card. Use the Journey Planner or the PTV app to plan routes.

If you buy a myki, it can hold two kinds of value:

Some details from PTV: your myki uses a valid Pass before it uses Money, and if you travel outside the zones a Pass covers, you pay the difference from myki Money. A Pass will not work if your myki Money balance is negative. A myki Pass is unlikely to matter on a short trip, because myki Money already stops charging at the daily cap. PTV says a Pass can save money if you travel most days, so compare its price with myki Money daily caps for the days you plan to ride.

How do you get from Melbourne Airport to the city?

There is no train to Melbourne Airport yet. Melbourne Airport's own page says the airport rail line is in the works, and that track and station rebuilding in Melbourne's west (West Footscray to Albion and Sunshine Station) has to be finished first. It gives no opening date. The airport also advises adding 60 minutes for road delays or disruptions from ongoing works if you are going by public transport.

SkyBus details. SkyBus lists the fares above on its fares page (adult, child and senior); check the price before you book. Seniors need a valid Australian state-issued Seniors card. A 10-trip ticket is $180.00 and is sold in the app only. Stops are kerbside outside Terminals 1, 3 and 4: at Terminal 4 you can only be picked up, and at Terminals 1 and 3 you can be picked up and dropped off. You do not need to book a time. Buy online, at the e-kiosks at the stops (card only), or with cash at Prosegur and Smart Carte baggage storage in the Terminal 2 arrivals hall. SkyBus does not use myki. The airport page says online tickets are valid for 12 months; SkyBus's own page says three months, so use yours within three months to be safe.

SkyBus also runs the Sunshine Express (adult $17.00 one way, $29.00 return, to Sunshine Station and the Metro and V/Line network), the Eastern Express (adult from $21 one way, from $34 return, to Watsonia, Doncaster and Box Hill) and the Peninsula Express (to St Kilda and Frankston). Those three use only Terminals 1 and 4.

Taxis. Only take a taxi from the designated ranks at Terminals 1, 2 and 4; the airport says not to accept offers from anyone outside them.

Driving. The airport is about 20 to 25 kilometres from the CBD, and the drive typically takes 20 to 30 minutes in light traffic.

What runs at night?

Melbourne's Night Network runs metropolitan trains, trams and buses, plus certain regional coaches, on weekends. The PTV late-night page has separate PDF maps for the weekend night train, tram, bus and regional coach networks. Which routes run overnight is not listed in the text, so use the Journey Planner or those maps for your line.

How fares work at night:

• Use your myki as normal. You will not be charged a return fare if you tap on before 3am, because a new day of myki fares begins at 3am.
• Cheaper travel after 6pm: if you tap on after 6pm, you can travel until 3am the next day, which PTV describes as up to nine hours of travel for the price of two hours.
• You can top up at night with Mobile myki, instant top-up in the PTV app, myki machines at train stations and tram stops, staffed stations, or 24-hour shops such as 7-Eleven.

On safety, PTV says Protective Services Officers patrol trains, stations, tram stops and bus interchanges. In an emergency, call 000.

Which cheaper-travel options apply to you?

PTV's "Cheaper travel with myki" page lists these. All of it is written for myki cards; the page does not say whether the time-based offers also apply to contactless.

For the early bird fare, PTV suggests using trains that arrive at your destination by 7am.

What about trips outside Melbourne, such as Geelong?

Regional trains are partly covered. Transport Victoria says myki and contactless are available on most long-distance V/Line trains, but not all lines yet, and V/Line coaches never use myki or contactless; they need a paper ticket or eTicket. If you start or finish at Albury, Benalla or Euroa, keep using a V/Line ticket for now. You also need a V/Line ticket to reserve a seat on long-distance trips. The official line-by-line status is on the regional roll-out page.

For Geelong, the July bus release lists Geelong among the areas where bus tap and go was switched on first. From the airport, Gull Geelong runs scheduled buses to Geelong daily from 5.30am to midnight, from a stop opposite Terminal 3; timetable and fares are on the Gull website.

Which should you choose?

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