CaitLay Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Hi All,Hubby, kids and I finally landed in the land of Oz on Monday at midnight, and what a whirlwind adventure it has been. So exciting, fascinating and sometimes intimidating. What I am currently struggling with is understanding the public transport system, and any advice would be appreciated. We are currently staying in temp. Accommodation in Caulfield and I need to use public transport to get into the city centre (Collins Street). What is the cost of public transport, monthly (seems to be around $8 return per day)? Do you get a special rate if you use PT daily? How do you "recharge" or reload your monthly ticket? And lastly, how and where do you get reliable routes and schedules?Sorry for all the questions. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 The Pakenham/Frankston line takes you straight to the CBD - and depending on which end of Collins St you need to get to, you would either get off at Flinders St, Southern Cross or Parliament stations. The easiest would be to go down to Caulfield station and to to the information office. Tell them you're a beginner and have no idea what to do - they will most likely explain everything, including what ticket (myki) to get and which platform to catch your train from. You can choose to recharge your electronic myki with credit (myki money) or a weekly, monthly, etc, pass - which works out the cheapest. Then, every time you enter or exit a station, bus or tram, you "touch" your myki card on a reader so that it registers your trip. Give it 2 days, you'll find it all very simple 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaitLay Posted July 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Thanks so much Hansa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miran Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 We used it for the first time 6 months yesterday from Sunbury to Flinders. Went to the station and got all the schedules and info we needed. What a breeze! We loved it and found it extremely userfriendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DXB2OZ Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 The ptv app is a lifesaver for planning journeys by train or tram - suggest you load onto at least one phone or tablet if possible. We each have it. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miran Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Wow, thank you for the app, just got it and it is fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 We've been using the app since our LSD trip Jan2014. It's wonderful.And on the topic of apps, the app for realestate.com.au is also really good. (if you are looking for property to rent or buy) you can literally drive down a road in a suburb, look up a house for sale, find the house, look at the outside, and then on the app look at the inside. It gave us some surprises. Several shabby looking houses from the outside had really nice interiors (from the photos on the app). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeTMI Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 This web site is good for giving you an idea of routes (you can even put in an address and it will give you transport options, estimated timings, and maps for the walking part)http://ptv.vic.gov.au/There is also a tram tracker ap which gives you an idea of when the next tram should arrive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaitLay Posted July 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2015 Thanks so much for all the awesome advice guys. Had a look at Sunbury today as a possible place to stay. Opinionsin terms of commute to CBD using public transport? Has anyone had issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeTMI Posted July 3, 2015 Report Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) My OH uses the train to the CBD from Sunbury (gets off before the loop - not sure how it is round there). I occasionally use it. No problems at all, it is very rare that there is a problem with the train line. He was late one night when the train ran over a sheep (not a problem for the trains in the inner suburbs) and it damaged the brakes but otherwise fine. Takes 40/50 minutes to the CBD depending where you are going. I think there are something like 3 trains an hour at peak times. Loving Sunbury! Three cheers for Mara , if she hadn't plugged this place we might never have looked. Great Snoek at the fish and chip shops here as well. Edited July 3, 2015 by TeeTMI 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miran Posted July 3, 2015 Report Share Posted July 3, 2015 Best thing I experienced twice now, is the train leaving Sunbury is still empty, so no seating problem! Coming back is unfortunately a different story. You might have to stand for the first couple of stations. Trains leave and arrive at 20 to 30 minute intervals, if you miss one, just wait a little while for the next. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 It's funny how "a little while" can mean different things. I got a little too used to the tube in London where the next train was usually 2-3 minutes away. Now I time my train trips and if I miss one, I want to break things if I have to wait more than 10 minutes for my next train. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan83 Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 There's a nice iPhone app called Moovit which will help you plan journeys on Melbourne's unnecessarily complicated system. As for figuring out how the Myki charges work... Good luck. I still don't know what the difference is between Myki pass and Myki money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 How is it unnecessarily complicated?Come on dude, you're an accountant! Or maybe that's the problem 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan83 Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) I just think it could be made far more user friendly. For example, why are there two zones? Zone 1 and 2 are on the same fare now, what's the point of adding zones?Also, why are all the train lines the same colour? Except it's yellow/blue to show the now redundant zone 1 and 2 information. What IS the difference between Myki money and a Myki pass? Do I need Myki money to buy a pass? What if I have a pass and money? Why are some tram stops in both zone 1 and 2? What does this even mean? Will I be billed as a zone 1 or 2, or zone 1 to 2, or zone 2 to 2? Why is the system not able to register when a Myki is used to tag on and off in the free tram zone? Right now, the rules for trams are:Always touch on and off. Unless:Your journey starts and ends in the free tram zone. Then you should neither touch on nor off as you will be charged. But, if your journey starts within the free tram zone, but ends outside the free tram zone, you should touch on and off. But you don't always have to touch off, if your tram is in zone 1. But some tram stops are in zone 1 and 2, for some reason. Oh, if your journey starts outside but ends inside the free tram zone, touch on. But you don't need to touch off.There are a few other points but I just find the whole system very user unfriendly, especially to tourists. On top of all that, PTV only released their transit information in 2015 to google. EVERY other city in Australia has google maps transit information, but not Melbourne. The data was provided to Google several months ago, but hasn't been made active yet because the data has had to be "fixed" somehow. The only thing counting in the public transport's favour is that it is quite frequent (trams leave from my area every 10 minutes to go back to the CBD). Overall I think Victoria could do with some investment in modernising and replacing some of the clearly old, worn infrastructure and making things much easier to understand/use. Imagine trying to explain the free tram zone Myki use to a non-english speaking tourist!Meh. I guess these are the very definition of first world problems! I don't even own a car so I guess it can't be that bad Edited July 7, 2015 by Donovan83 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Donovan83... just breathe.... If the stop is in zone 1 and zone 2, then according to the system where the fare gets more expensive the farther you go, if you get on or of at one of those stops you are billed as staying in the same zone as the rest of your journey. So it's nice of them.If you tag on and off within the free tram zone you don't get charged. (I have never been, it shows $0.00 was deducted when I tag off) As far as I know tagging on and off never costs you more, it's just convenient and time saving not to have to bother in the free zone.If you download the PTV app on a smart phone you will have no problems planning any journey using trains, trams and busses, in any combination. It will even give you different options for your route.The difference between myki money and a myki pass are clearly explained on the PTV website. (Remember the mindset is of a first world country, that also has a good serving of 'do-it-yourself' attitude. So the information is available, it is your responsibility to look it up) Basically: The money is pay-as-you-go, and the pass is window of several consecutive days of travel. So the money only goes off when you travel, and you can skip days or travel short distances. The pass expires on the calendar regardless of how much you travel on it. You get unlimited travel for the duration of your pass, but it 'goes off' even if you don't travel.So in full hipster flare:Keep calm anduse GoogleBut yes, enjoy the fact that you can now complain about First World Problems. (I can't wait for the final move over) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Red Panda, your post above deserves a standing ovation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan83 Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) I had a response but it's not worth the drama. Thanks for telling me that Google exists. Edited July 7, 2015 by Donovan83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.