The MultiRider was a pre-purchased magnetic-stripe ticketing system used on rail, bus, and ferry services operated under the Transperth

Transperth

Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system in Perth, Western Australia. It is operated by the Public Transport Authority.-History:...

 brand, either by or under contract for the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. The name is now in use by TransWA on AvonLink and Australind services.

Equipment

The MultiRider system was based on a series of validation equipment and driver consoles supplied by the UK-based company Wayfarer Transit Systems.

Cards

The system is based on magnetic stripe card

Magnetic stripe card

A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card...

s containing simple information such as the number of trips that they can be used with, the number of transit zones that can be traversed, and the time and location of the last validation. Before boarding a service or transferring between train and bus services, passengers must validate the card by inserting it into a MultiRider validator located on train platforms and on buses.

Fare Determination

If this is the passenger's first trip using the card, or their previous validation was over 2 hours ago (for 1-4 zones, 3 hours for 5-8 zones), a trip is deducted from the card, and the information about the current trip is printed onto the front of the card. If the passenger is transferring between services, and their current trip is still valid, a "T" is printed onto the card (on 10-trip MultiRiders only).

MultiRiders can be purchased for use over any distance from 2 Sections to 8 Zones. Multiriders come with 10, 20, or 40 trips encoded onto them, and are up to 25% cheaper than the equivalent cash fares. The 40 trips of MultiRider tickets are formerly known as MultiRider Plus.

Variants of MultiRider tickets

There were a large variety of MultiRider tickets available:

Fare type	Single trip	10 trips	40 trips
Standard	DayRider - valid for all zones, all day after 9am	From 2 section to 8 zone fare	From 2 section to 8 zone fare
Concession	DayRider - valid for all zones, all day after 9am	From 2 section to 8 zone fare	From 2 section to 8 zone fare
Others	MA
	Senior ticket - available for seniors, valid at Sundays / Public Holidays or at Senior's week. (replaced by Senior SmartRider)
	Student Multirider - available for primary and secondary school students only. (replaced by Student SmartRider)

Student MultiRider

The Student MultiRider was introduced at 10 October 2005. This type of MultiRider provides a 50 cent fare on a journey, valid for three hours in all zones. The Student MultiRider also is available in two types of tickets, in 10 trips, or in 40 trips. The Student MultiRider is available for primary and secondary school students only.

Controversy

While the Student MultiRider was introduced, the Curtin Student Guild http://www.guild.curtin.edu.au pointed out that state government does not provide the 50 cents student fare on tertiary school students (University and TAFE student), and the state government should provide the same concession price as primary and secondary school students. However, the state government replies that the tertiary school students can have the standard concession fare for their journey.

MultiRider phase out

On April 8, 2007, the MultiRider ticketing system was withdrawn and replaced by SmartRider

SmartRider

SmartRider is Transperth's contactless electronic ticketing system using smartcard technology for the process of charging patrons for public transport in Western Australia....

. In the lead-up to its withdrawal, it was phased out in stages.

First Stage (from 14 February 2007)

• The SmartRider ticketing system completed full rollout and SmartRider cards became available from Transperth InfoCentres and authorised SmartRider Retail Outlets across the Perth
  Perth, Western Australia
  Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
  
  metropolitan area.
• The SmartRider system operated in parallel with the existing MultiRider to allow passengers to use up any remaining value on MultiRider tickets.

Second Stage (from 5 March 2007)

• MultiRiders were withdrawn from sale

Third Stage (from 8 April 2007)

• The MultiRider ticketing system was withdrawn from use on the Transperth network
• Passengers who had any remaining value on their MultiRiders were able to transfer the value to their SmartRider by completing a MultiRider refund form, which is available from Transperth InfoCentres, at authorised SmartRider Retail Outlets or online http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au

TransWA MultiRider

When MultiRiders were phased out by Transperth, TransWA introduced its own MultiRiders for use on Australind and Avonlink trains. http://www.transwa.wa.gov.au/Default.aspx?tabid=156.