	{"id":177639,"date":"2026-01-02T12:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T01:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=177639"},"modified":"2026-01-02T12:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T01:07:10","slug":"youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MORE than one million young Victorians can now travel for free on public transport, with the state&#8217;s new youth myki officially active.<\/p>\n<p>The Victorian government initiative offers all passengers aged under 18 unlimited travel across trains, trams and buses statewide.<\/p>\n<p>Families began accessing the new card last week, and online purchases are available through the Transport Victoria website and in-person at staffed stations.<\/p>\n<p>The shift removes the cost of the annual student pass, previously $755 per child. For families with three children under the age of 18, the change represents a saving of more than $2,200 a year.<\/p>\n<p>The youth myki can be used across the entire public transport network, including on booked V\/Line services by entering the card number when reserving a seat.<\/p>\n<p>On non-myki regional buses, it functions as a flash pass.<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Public and Active Transport, Gabrielle Williams, said the new system would ease travel costs for households.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re helping families save on everyday costs, whether it be cheaper school runs or cheaper weekend runs to the footy \u2013 this gives families one less thing to worry about,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There are more reasons than ever to get on board public transport and I encourage Victorians to enjoy the free travel and explore our network \u2013 from the Metro Tunnel out to the regions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The new youth myki cards feature a design that was created by 11-year-old Victorian student Charlie and depicts all the ways young people will be able to use the card throughout the year.<\/p>\n<p>More than 650,000 seniors and about 300,000 carers and disability support pensioners are also now eligible for free weekend travel, with the initiative beginning yesterday (Thursday, January 1).<\/p>\n<p>Passengers must carry their proof of concession and continue to tap on and off as usual, but no fares will be charged on weekends.<\/p>\n<p>Families will also continue to have access to free public transport across the state every weekend until February 1 to celebrate the opening of the Metro Tunnel.<\/p>\n<p>For more information about the new youth myki, head to <a href=\"http:\/\/transport.vic.gov.au\/tickets-and-myki\/myki\">transport.vic.gov.au\/tickets-and-myki\/myki<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MORE than one million young Victorians can now travel for free on public transport, with the state&#8217;s new youth myki officially active. The Victorian government initiative offers all passengers aged under 18 unlimited travel across trains, trams and buses statewide. Families began accessing the new card last week, and online purchases are available through the [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":177641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-177639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Free public transport is now available for under-18s across Victoria, with the new youth myki offering unlimited travel on trains, trams and buses statewide.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses - Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Free public transport is now available for under-18s across Victoria, with the new youth myki offering unlimited travel on trains, trams and buses statewide.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-02T01:07:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-13.png?_t=1767316032\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ellie Claringbold\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ellie Claringbold\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ellie Claringbold\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32abddd83bad3e2425166905b3e3aaff\"},\"headline\":\"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-02T01:07:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":348,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Untitled-design-13.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/\",\"name\":\"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses - Surf Coast Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Untitled-design-13.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-02T01:07:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Free public transport is now available for under-18s across Victoria, with the new youth myki offering unlimited travel on trains, trams and buses statewide.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Untitled-design-13.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Untitled-design-13.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Victoria's new Youth myki has launched, offering free travel for children and teenagers across the network. Photo: SUPPLIED\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Surf Coast Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Surf Coast Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"width\":350,\"height\":38,\"caption\":\"Surf Coast Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32abddd83bad3e2425166905b3e3aaff\",\"name\":\"Ellie Claringbold\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/author\\\/ellie\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses - Surf Coast Times","description":"Free public transport is now available for under-18s across Victoria, with the new youth myki offering unlimited travel on trains, trams and buses statewide.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses - Surf Coast Times","og_description":"Free public transport is now available for under-18s across Victoria, with the new youth myki offering unlimited travel on trains, trams and buses statewide.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/","og_site_name":"Surf Coast Times","article_published_time":"2026-01-02T01:07:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-13.png?_t=1767316032","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Ellie Claringbold","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ellie Claringbold","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/"},"author":{"name":"Ellie Claringbold","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/person\/32abddd83bad3e2425166905b3e3aaff"},"headline":"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses","datePublished":"2026-01-02T01:07:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/"},"wordCount":348,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-13.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/","name":"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses - Surf Coast Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-13.png","datePublished":"2026-01-02T01:07:10+00:00","description":"Free public transport is now available for under-18s across Victoria, with the new youth myki offering unlimited travel on trains, trams and buses statewide.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-13.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-13.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Victoria's new Youth myki has launched, offering free travel for children and teenagers across the network. Photo: SUPPLIED"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/youth-myki-unlocks-free-trips-on-trains-trams-buses\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Youth myki unlocks free trips on trains, trams, buses"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/","name":"Surf Coast Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization","name":"Surf Coast Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","width":350,"height":38,"caption":"Surf Coast Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/person\/32abddd83bad3e2425166905b3e3aaff","name":"Ellie Claringbold","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/author\/ellie\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177639"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=177639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}