Adelaide, your Public Transport is great and affordable, I am in envy (Brisbane)

Richmond Tigers on 22/04/2022 - 15:56
Last edited 22/04/2022 - 16:12

I recently had the pleasure of using the Metrolink System in Adelaide and was surprised at its cheapness and cleanliness, however the weird diesel train on the weekend was perplexing.

Didn't have fare, bus drivers never seemed to care whereas in Brissy they think they are the Gestapo.

I could travel basically as far as i want for 1 flat rate, in Brissy an equivalent travel distance would cost me about $15 each way.

Didn't see any ticket inspectors for the week.

The free city loop buses and free tram stops actually go places of use, here in Brissy they do a shitty small loop and do not go into the Valley.

The ONLY annoying this was being unable to see a real time card balance on the login page, hence why sometimes i was greeted with the sound of shame.

Bravo Adelaide, now if you could only do something about all of the Goths and drunks in the CBD walking into traffic and the state of Marion Road that would be tops.

Travel

Comments

  • kerfuffle on 22/04/2022 - 16:03
    +1

    Also probably cheapest airport-city route in Australia during off-peak at $2.20 or $3.95 peak with a metroCARD.

    • AustriaBargain on 22/04/2022 - 16:06
      +2

      The airport buses are the best. When I take an airport bus it halves my travel times. A lot of the airport buses don't run on weekends, sadly. And they only run once an hour or every two hours or so.

  • AustriaBargain on 22/04/2022 - 16:05
    +2

    The card balance is real time, except if you top it up with the website, then it can take a few hours to show up on your card. We do get inspectors on buses sometimes but it's very rare. I remember when I was in Melbourne inspections on the bus and tram seemed routine. But also in Melbourne you need to "tap off", which seemed strange to me. But you can "tap on" in the middle of the bus at least in Melbourne. The biggest problem with public transport in Adelaide is black spots that leave you waiting at an interchange for 40 minutes, or where it takes you two hours to get to somewhere that would take just 20 minutes to drive.

    Adelaide will soon have free public transport for seniors and it'll only cost like a million dollars a year, they should have done it sooner.

    • mecusherb on 22/04/2022 - 16:09

      You don’t have to tap off in Melbourne. The people that do are wasting everyone’s time.

    • Richmond Tigers on 22/04/2022 - 16:13

      Yeh i have clarified that I meant real time balance on the login page. I was doing lots of short trips with 4 cards and would lose count and not notice balances on screen. The login page only updates I think at the end of the day.

      • AustriaBargain on 22/04/2022 - 16:31
        +1

        Why did you have four cards?

    • try2bhelpful on 24/04/2022 - 00:04

      https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/tickets/myki/travel-with-myki/

      The touch on/touch off depends on the mode of travel and the zones you are travelling in.

  • KeplersLaws on 22/04/2022 - 16:11

    yeah i hate the buses in qld, but the trains are quite nice and have found them quite timely and maintained. the ones with the bullet nose, that is, not the ones that make you think Die Hard 1 just came out. those are a nice reminder of locally manufactured history, i guess?

    • vinnychase on 22/04/2022 - 20:09

      mspaint diagram of Die Hard 1 trains required please

  • USER DC on 22/04/2022 - 17:43

    Haha its a crappy system, LoL so many delays with busses.
    Trains are decent though but again one will have to adjust their own timetable based on train's schedules etc.
    Too much effort, just simply easier to get private transport (for personal travel dude, not really worth it if going to City though, train's much better for City)

    Although Yes I agree monthly pass is so much cheaper than Private transportation (even more cheaper for students, Children, and Seniors (who can travel for FREE essentially at sometimes). Used to be like $49 a month for me in past, Now easily $49 a fortnight at least on fuel.

  • Benoffie on 22/04/2022 - 18:57
    +1

    Yes, the ticketing system is one of the great egalitarian staples of the SA system. They have considered many times the implementation of zones but the backlash has been fierce.

    The only great problem is the incessant need for all roads to lead to Rome, or in our case, the CBD. It would be much more efficient to run busses to hubs and then smaller buses on neighbourhood zones. They have trialed this in places like Gawler.

    Still think the best thing is the O-Bahn. If you didn't get the chance while you were here, you'll have to take a run next time.

  • boomramada on 22/04/2022 - 19:47

    OP have you tried the O-Bahn while you in Adelaide? Lol

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