Melbourne Transport

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Melbourne is an easy city to get around. Whether it's by train, tram, bus, bicycle, private car or your own two feet, the City is accessible and easy to navigate. This wiki page is intended to provide a few pointers for visitors to Melbourne with regard to the wide array of transportation options available.

Contents 1 By Public Transportation (Bus, Train, Tram) 1.1 Money Savers 1.2 Special Tourist Services 2 By Air 3 By Car or Bicycle 4 Road Rules & Safety 4.1 Speeding 4.1.1 Speed Cameras 4.2 Watch out for Trams! 4.2.1 Hook Turns 4.3 Parking 4.3.1 Tow Away Warning 4.3.2 Don't Park Here! 4.3.3 Parking Signs 4.3.4 Fines & Penalties

By Public Transportation (Bus, Train, Tram)

For fare, timetable and trip planning information on Melbourne's integrated Bus, Train & Tram network, refer to Metlink Melbourne.

After the last train has left the City for the suburbs, transport is still available! Departing hourly from Flinders Street station, the nightrider bus is your way home. Buses travel from the city to Melbourne's outer suburbs, departing every hour between 12.30am and 4.30am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Money Savers

• On Sundays buy a Sunday Saver ($2.90 as at 25 April 2008) for all zones all day!
  
• If you plan to travel after 6 pm (Monday-Saturday) buy a 2 hour ticket - it will last until 3 am next morning!
  
• A cheap way to get around Melbourne during the week is to arrive in the City before 7am - it's free on the Connex trains! Just ask at any Premium Station for a "10 x Early Bird" ticket. Just be sure to get a 2-hourly ticket on your way home, and you'll have a full day out for around half the cost of a daily ticket.
• 2 Hour tickets are valid for 2 hours, plus the current hour. Try to validate tickets just past the full hour (e.g. validate at 2:01pm and your ticket will be valid until 5:00 pm, whereas a ticket validated at 1:59pm will only be valid until 4:00pm)
  

Special Tourist Services

• Do not miss Melbourne's world-famous Trams! You can hop on the free City Circle Tram(map), that will take you past many tourist sights.
• Melbourne also has a free Tourist Shuttle bus, running between 930am and 430pm, along a route that includes the Arts Precinct, Federation Square, Exhibition Street, Melbourne Museum and Carlton Gardens, Lygon Street, University of Melbourne, Queen Victoria Market, William Street, Southbank, Sports & Entertainment Precinct and The Shrine & Royal Botanic Gardens.

By Air

Melbourne is served by 2 Airports. Melbourne (Tullamarine) is the largest and most popular, and is home to Melbourne's International terminal. Melbourne (Avalon) is the base for some Jetstar flights, as well as being a Qantas maintainence base and training runway.

Melbourne (Tullamarine) - approximately 20 min from the city center - the big red Skybus ($16 one way, $26 return) takes you to Southern Cross Station (on Spencer Street), with free transfers to City hotels & backpackers accommodation. At the skybus ticket counter you can pick up a free copy of the Melbourne in Spring/summer/autumn/winter magazine that contains a city map, tram & train map and a few vouchers.

Alternatively, you could catch a taxi, which would usually cost around $40 to $70, depending on the driver, weather, time of day, traffic and other factors.

Melbourne (Avalon) Approximately 1 hours drive south-west of Melbourne - with the sunbus shuttle which costs about 19-25 AUD depending on where you want to go.

A taxi from Melbourne (Avalon) is way too much to even consider on the average travelers budget.

By Car or Bicycle

Firstly, if considering driving a car, read the Australia Wiki section on Safe Driving if you haven't done so yet.

If considering riding a bicycle, read the Cycling in Melbourne Wiki.

Besides driving on the left side like everywhere else in Australia, there are some road rules that are unique to Melbourne, due to the extensive tram network which shares many City streets with cars.

Road Rules & Safety

Obey the rules! It is just too expensive to do so otherwise. If you want to review more rules, refer to this Vic Roads Page.

Speeding

Don't do it! The police allow very little tolerance for speeding motorists. Sometimes, driving as little as 3km/h ( yes, that is only 3!!) too fast will result in you being issued with a large traffic fine. Speed limits in Australia are a maximum, not a recommendation.

Speed Cameras

Victoria has an extensive network of fixed and mobile speed cameras. These have been installed on the Hume Freeway (Wodonga to Melbourne), Western and Metropolitan Ring Road, Tullamarine Freeway & CityLink, Westgate Freeway, Monash Freeway and Princes Freeway (Melbourne to Geelong).

The speed cameras between Seymour & Melbourne (Hume Fwy) and Melbourne & Geelong (Princes Fwy) are more advanced than the regular ones. They are time lapse cameras - they record your vehicle registration at 2 or more points, then calculate how long it took you to traverse the distance between them. This means that they can catch you speeding even if you slow down for the camera!

Watch out for Trams!

Melbourne's famous trams compete with you and always seem to be where you would like to wait, stand, turn, or go! The best thing to do is to give way and avoid close contact with Trams at all times.

Hook Turns

Melbourne has a special method of turning right within the City, while not interrupting the flow of tram traffic: The "Hook Turn". There are more than a dozen of them in Melbourne's CBD and they look more confusing than they actually are.

See the official VicRoads site for full Hook Turn details, including illustrations.

Parking

Melbourne can be a very expensive city to park in if you don't follow the parking rules!

Tow Away Warning

Carefully observe the "Clearway" times when parking in the City, or on a main road leading into or out of the City. Most Clearways operate from 7am until 9:30am, and 4:30pm until 6:30pm. If your vehicle is parked in a Clearway during the specified hours, it will be towed away (impounded) and will cost at least $500 to recover (parking fine, towing fee, impound release fee).

Don't Park Here!

Areas that are not intended for parking include (but are not limited to):

• Bus Zone
• Loading Zone
• Taxi Zone
• No Standing
• No Stopping
• No Parking
• Police Vehicles Only
• Horses Only

If you see any of these signs indicating that you are parked in that area - leave immediately, or your vehicle may be issued with a parking ticket, even if the Inspector does not physically put it on your car.

Parking Signs

Once you find somewhere safe to park, observe the time restrictions on the signs and meters. Also check for additional signs for the Clearway or No Standing times. Refer to the below examples for a guide to get started.

Sign Says	Sign Means
1/4 P	Park free for up to 15 minutes
1 P	Park free for up to 1 hour
2 P METER	Park for up to 2 hours when paid at meter
1 P 7:30AM - 7:30PM MON - SAT	Park for up to 1 hour during specified time. Check nearby signs for restrictions at other times.

Fines & Penalties

Failure to observe Melbourne's parking rules may result in your vehicle being issued with an infringement notice (fine). Parking inspectors are known to patrol all day & weekends, right up until the end of the time restrictions (usually 7:30pm).