Sydney transport - bus or train

[Tntaglia]

Hi all

We're still probably 9 months or so away from our move but I'm scouting areas and trying to figure out how I'll get to work (in the CBD right by the opera house). I'm using google maps to get a sense of how far each area is from the CBD and the public transport options available to me - if we buy a car initially it will only be one car and I would prefer to rather not sit in traffic every day. 

So often it looks on google maps like the bus routes are shorter than it would take with a car - does this mean that there are specific bus lanes that avoid traffic jams? Or is it just over-optimistic and relying on bus schedules that don't take into account traffic conditions?

 

Also anyone who uses public transport in Sydney can you tell me which you prefer of the train vs the bus? Condition-wise, reliability, does it get too hot during summer etc?

 

I know I can get answers more easily by joining a Facebook group but since we haven't announced our intentions to family yet I don't want to do anything on Facebook that I don't want people to see yet.

 

Thanks!

[AFreshStart]

@Tntaglia

 

Firstly driving into the City for work isn't going to be an option if you plan on parking the car there. At BEST you're going to be paying $7 an hour or as much a $10, if you are lucky you can get an "early bird special" and get in and out for $20 a day, but overshoot it and you're looking at $40+ a DAY for parking. We live in Sydney, as in within the Sydney Council and in two years I've taken our car into the City to park twice... you might be lucky and your company might lease you a bay if they have one but expect to spend upwards of $600 a month.

 

RE buses or trains, up to you and also where you are based. For us we live in Waterloo which is part of Green Square. We are a 900m walk to the Green Square Station which is 2 stops to Circular Quay (closest train station to the Opera House), but then the bus passes our home every 10-minutes into the City and onto the North Shore more frequently. The travel time is almost the same, but because we literally walk outside our front door to the bus stop we tend to catch the bus more often.

 

The buses run on gas, are clean, have aircon and are comfortable and yes, in the City they have dedicated bus lanes, which is why they are quicker and largely on time.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Cheers

 

Matt

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2016 by AFreshStart

[Tntaglia]

Thanks @AFreshStart - that helps a lot. Wow, I didn't realise parking would be that pricey, so public transport it is then!