Australian Transportation: What you need to know.

Well, what we'd like to talk about today in the podcast is public transport in Sydney. Now this is...not the most glamorous of topics, I guess that people want to hear about, however if you're planning a trip to Sydney, public transport's pretty important. It's the best way to get around and you need to know a few of the facts about getting public transport in Sydney. Now there's 3 real options and depending where you go, what you're doing, it really dictates which one of these 3 you're going to take. 3 options are trains, buses and ferries.

So first of all, trains. Trains to Sydney are not too bad, they're clean first of all. They're fairly frequent, they're pretty safe way to go. In terms of frequency, especially during peak hours, which is probably 7AM to 9AM in the morning and between 4 and 6, very extremely frequent, although they can get a little bit crowded during that period of time. But even in the non-peak periods the trains are pretty frequent as well. So if you're getting a train, it's both clean and safe, you can usually get a seat, except during peak periods when they can be fairly crowded. If the trains are actually running where you want to go, to then trains are a very good option, they're very fast, far quicker than buses on the same route, they're expensive, although the prices are about the same. But they can be a pretty good option, so that's trains.

Your second option is buses. You know the thing about Sydney's public transport system is...in general the most routes don't have both buses and trains. Depending on what part of the city you're trying to go to, you could either take a train or a bus. But in most cases you can't take both to the same destination. So if the destination that you're looking for is on a bus route, then you'll probably want to get a bus there. Buses in Sydney are pretty high standard there, the majority of buses are provided by usually the state government-New South Wales government. All the buses are very modern; in that case, they run pretty much on time more or less, though it's a little more difficult to keep buses on time than trains obviously. But they're pretty much on time; they're fairly frequent, fairly clean and quite safe for going, relatively inexpensive. So there are private buses which are really of 2 types; either in the outlying suburbs, along routes which aren't taken by state buses and that's not as common you would come across when you're on vacation; and also private buses quite a few run between various hotels, hostels and the airports and those major hubs; but really the airport shuttle run, things like that is where you're more likely to come across private buses; but the majority of them are state government provided and are quite good.

Now your third method of public transport that you'll come across in the normal course of things will be ferries. Now ferries operate on Sydney Harbour and obviously and in the various waterways surrounding or within the Sydney metropolitan area. And where possible I really recommend that you do get ferries as a pretty good means of public transport. And I recommend that for a couple of reasons; where there is a ferry route between 2 destinations it's usually the quickest way to get there as a rule, or at least the shortest way to get there. So it can be fair...or it can be the cheapest way, it can be the shortest way. The other thing about ferries is that you really are doubling up, most of the ferry routes are on Sydney Harbour and your public transport, your movement from one spot to the other is doubling as a Harbour cruise. Probably the most beautiful harbour in the world and you're cruising upon it, going from point A to point B, you can get outside, take in the beautiful nature and the sights and sounds of the Sydney Harbour. And you can do that while you're indulging in your public transport. So that can be a really good way to go and as I've mentioned in previous episodes, as I've mentioned in the past Manly Ferries, one of my favorite ferry rides can be a really good daytrip in itself if you take that ferry.

So they're really your 3 options for public transport - buses, trains or ferries; now a little a bit about the costs and some of the best ways to...and some of the passes that are available. Now there's a website 131500.com.au which I know is very confusing URL and it's based on the phone number 131500, which is what you can dial here in Australia to get information about public transport. Anyway, I'll put a link in the shownotes that there lies the various routes and the passes and the tickets that you can buy. But in general I recommend 2. If you're here on vacation, you're here for a relatively short stay, there's a couple of options that are particularly good for you. If you're just looking for a daytrip, you can get a day-tripper, a day-tripper pass is about 16 Australian Dollars that gives you unlimited for 24 hours or at least on the day that you purchase it, all the way through to 4 o'clock the following morning. You get unlimited buses, trains, ferries throughout the Sydney metro area. So if you are staying within the metro area that can be a really good option. It's far more cost effective to do that and you will and truly get your money's worth if you're just getting around to see a few of the sights. So that's one of my recommendations.

If you're here for a longer trip as well another one to consider is the Sydney Pass. The Sydney Pass is kind of the ultimate all-inclusive kind of ticket that is for 8 days and you get on in either 3, 5 or 7 of those days depending on what you pay. You get unlimited public transport in Sydney, which is the same as the day-tripper includes all your buses, trains and ferries, but it also includes the Sydney Explorer and Bondi Explorer. Now I spoke a little bit about those in Episode 8 I believe it was or Episode 9 and about how valuable that Sydney and Bondi Explorer can be if you want to see a number of attractions in a relatively short time, and I especially recommended early on your trip to Sydney. You can get the Sydney Pass which not only gives you unlimited transport for 3, 5 or 7 days out of an 8 day period, but you can also have unlimited Sydney Explorer and Bondi Explorer as well. If you're going to do some heavy duty traveling I've a relatively short period, that Sydney Passes can be a good way to go as well. It's more expensive, you're looking at about 110 Australian Dollars for the 3 days, but if you...especially if you're going to take advantage of the Sydney and Bondi Explorer which I think are 40 odd Dollars each for a day, this can be a much, much more cost effective way to go. Anyway, that's a little bit about the public transport system in Sydney. An important knowledge if you're thinking of visiting.

The other thing I'd like to talk about today is catching a taxi in Sydney. A few things you need to know. Obviously this follows our public transport kind of theme and taxis, well it's not public transport on their own, can be a pretty good option in some cases. They're more expensive, definitely, but in a lot of cases they're far more convenient as well. And so, you'll often find, during your trip to Sydney that a taxi is a pretty good option as well. Again in Sydney, taxis are both clean and safe. They're clean because the taxi drivers have to actually keep them clean, so that's...I think they can get a ticket for a having a dirty taxi, so they're usually pretty good and they're pretty safe. Most of the ones you see are white in color, they're new model as they're required to be by law, so they're not very old. So your all bashed up old cab, it doesn't happen in Sydney and they're really easy to recognize, because they've all got a big white, white sign in black lettering on the top that says TAXI. And that's got a lot behind it so if it's lit up that means the taxi's vacant and they'll stop for you. In fact they have to by law, they can't just be choosy, they've got to stop if they've got their light on. And if it hasn't got the light on it means that it's engaged and that it won't stop for you and it shouldn't anyway. Taxis are very common in Sydney, with the exception I guess again of Friday and Saturday nights. Anytime after about 10 o'clock on Friday or Saturday you can often struggle to get a taxi, especially around those city areas, because they are by far the most common times when people are out and about in the pubs and clubs of Sydney and looking to get a taxi home. So it can be quite challenging that time but at other times there are cabs just about everywhere, particularly in the more densely populated kind of areas. You can ring up, you can book ahead and get a taxi to come and pick you up or at certain pre-arranged location, but in depending where you are and the majority of places, particularly in and around the city areas, it's enough just to walk to the nearest main road and you can...in a matter of seconds a cabbie will turn up. The other thing about cabs in Sydney is their meters, metered fare. In many countries you can enter in a negotiations with your taxi driver and you have to go through that whole process of deciding how much you're going to pay and how much he wants and on whether you're going to be ripped off. You don't have to worry about that in Sydney or anywhere in Australia, it's all by the meter, so there's no actually no point in trying to negotiate with your cabbie because you hop in, they press the button on the meter and when you get off that's when they stop, they press it again and that's how much you pay. Pretty much set down in regulations about how much you'll pay, it's slightly different from per states about how much you pay per kilometer. It's all set down in regulation so there's no controversy or anything like that. So my tips for catching a cab is that don't worry about it too much. Friday and Saturday night people tend to wait a little bit, but any other time you shouldn't have to wait long to get a cab. It can be very convenient, you don't have to worry about negotiating your fare, you know exactly how much you're going to pay and it can be a pretty good option. Especially when you're a visitor to the city and you don't know where you're going, cabbies can take you door-to-door, you can relax and enjoy the ride. So that's just a little bit about catching a taxi in Sydney.

This Articlke is an excerpt from "The Sydney Visitor", the definitive podcast guide to visiting Sydney, Australia.