Australia without a car

Australia might not be as well-known as the United States for being the land of the automobile, but due to the large distances between cities, extensive lobbying from the automobile industry, and the lack of good public transit outside a select few cities, it has made itself one of the most car-centric countries in the world. Most adult Australians own cars, and the most common form of photo identification in Australia is a driver's licence.

Although travelling around rural or regional cities is best done by car, all hope is not lost for travellers seeking to travel car-free while still having an enjoyable experience. In some larger cities, such as Sydney, Melbourne or Perth, a car might prove to be more of a hassle than a necessity. Victoria also has a rather extensive and affordable rail and coach network that covers all corners of the state, so much so that only the very suburban areas of Melbourne where you're unlikely to venture as a traveller will ever struggle without a car.

Understand

Many of Australia's largest cities, such as Sydney and Brisbane, once had extensive streetcar networks that were on-par with and just as extensive as Melbourne's tram system. Following World War II, Australian cities followed in the United States' footsteps and embraced automobiles, trimming down their tram systems in favor of highway expansion into the suburbs. Melbourne was the only city to retain its tram system, while the other Australian cities dismantled their tram networks (except for a single line in Adelaide) and replaced them with buses.

Compared to the United States, Australia's isolated geography with only a few large cities, and very few towns in the vast distances that separate the cities in between, means that most rail systems are limited to the commuter rail networks of the largest cities, and public transit grows increasingly scarce the further one travels out of the major cities. Within its larger cities, bus service often lags signficantly behind commuter rail service, with a huge difference in service levels between the two, compared to public transit systems in Canada. This means that the commuter rail systems often form the backbone of the major Australian cities' transit systems.

For both local and intercity public transport, information is generally readibly available online, whether through the transit agencies or via Google Maps, means that it is reasonably easy to plan trips ahead of time.

Get around

By plane

Australia's vast distances and sparse population mean that for travel between major cities, flying is typically the most convenient and popular option, and often the cheapest.

By rail

Main article: Rail travel in Australia

Unlike in Europe and East Asia, long-distance trains in Australia are slow, infrequent, expensive and often delayed. Nevertheless, if you enjoy travelling by train, doing so is a viable alternative when travelling between the mainland state capitals, if you can afford it that is. Both the Adelaide-Darwin and Sydney-Perth routes are luxury services designed for tourists with a lot of time and money on their hands, rather than as practical forms of transportation. Along the East Coast, it is possible to travel by train from Melbourne all the way up to Cairns, but this will require you to change trains twice; in Sydney and in Brisbane, and there is also a rail connection between Melbourne and Adelaide. Otherwise, passenger trains in Australia are limited to the suburban networks of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, as well as some long-distance services radiating out of the respective state capitals to major rural centres in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Australia's suburban rail networks have been the subject of much investment and improvement in the 21st century, so if you are planning to travel from a train-served suburb to the central business district (CBD), trains are generally clean, comfortable and efficient.

By coach

Australia's big eastern cities are served by intercity coach lines. However, no coach lines cross the Nullarbor Plain to Perth. Greyhound Australia and Firefly Express are the main long-distance coach operators. State government-owned operators in New South Wales (including Murrays), Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia (including Transwa) provide service from the respective state capitals to the country towns, while that gap is filled by smaller private operators in South Australia, including Stateliner. Integrity Coach Lines has a bus line connecting Perth and Broome, with stops in between.

Destinations

Good cities

Brisbane (Queensland) – the host of the 2032 Olympics sure has Australia's finest bus network, including Brisbane Metro, a bi-articulated "metro" system that consists of two bus tunnels. Its suburban rail system is decent, with good connections between the CBD, sporting venues, the airport and the Gold Coast (with the rest covered by buses). The few transit deserts in the city are in areas that you'd typically have no reason to visit as a tourist. Con-X-ion has shuttle buses from Brisbane Airport to Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Caloundra, Caboolture, Mooloolaba, and Nambour.
Gold Coast (Queensland) – GC's outer suburbs might be lacklustre concrete dystopican suburban hellholes, but its coastal areas – where almost all travellers visit – are some of the best PT-oriented areas in Queensland. The G:link is the city's primary north-south light rail system, connecting to the SEQ CityRail network at Helensvale. As of 2023, the light rail only extends as far south as Broadbeach, though the Burleigh extension is set to open in 2025. A further extension to OOL^IATA open a few years following, in addition to a southerly extension of its suburban rail line (which ends at Varsity Lakes, in the middle of suburbia).
Katoomba–Leura (New South Wales) – these two small regional towns surprisingly punch above their weight for car-free travel, considering that regional towns do terribly when it comes to car-free travel. Both towns are on the NSW Trainlink Intercity System on the Blue Mountains Line, have fairly walkable town centres (though there can be a lot of cars during holiday periods), with the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus linking the relatively close-by nature attractions, including Scenic World and Echo Point. Other points are close by on-foot, far easier to access than some in other parts of the Blue Mountains.
Melbourne (Victoria) — well-known for its extensive tram network, which is the largest surviving one in the world. The tram system is complemented by a suburban rail network that reaches into the outer suburbs, and buses to fill in the gaps not served by rail.
Newcastle (New South Wales) — getting between Newcastle and some of its outer suburbs can suck (unless you don't mind travelling on buses), but there's very little reason why you would do so as a traveller. Most of its points of interests are either along the city's two main rail lines: the Central Coast & Newcastle Line from Lake Macquarie, the Central Coast and Sydney, and the Hunter Line from Maitland, Dungog and Scone (which can be infrequent on weekends, though). However, Newcastle Interchange ends at the western edge of the CBD — anywhere east and you will need to transfer onto the city's single light rail line, connecting most of the CBD (where most POIs are) with the beach and the station. It's nowhere near "good" for global standards, but it is for Australian standards.
Perth (Western Australia) — airport, CBD, Freo and the north: all these major important destinations are connected via its relatively extensive suburban rail network (which is the third-most used network in the country, after Sydney and Melbourne respectively). Although it is not very radial, this should not significantly pose an issue for travellers. The few areas not part of the rail network are those deep in the suburbs, and are usually served by buses. There is also a single ferry crossing the Swan River from the Perth CBD to South Perth, but it does not run after the evening peak hour or on weekends. The Perth Explorer Bus is a hop-on hop-off bus that runs on a loop around the downtown area.
Sydney (New South Wales) — although the city is home to several transit deserts, it is the only city in Australia with a metro network and has the most radial rail network of any city. Complemented with excellent off-peak frequencies on its suburban rail network, it is possible to get around almost the entire city via its trains, light rail, metro and ferries. The one major exception where transit tends to be poor is near beaches; in fact, out of Sydney's many beaches, only Cronulla is connected by train, and Manly by ferry. All other beaches, including Bondi Beach and Coogee, are only accessible via bus (though they are even harder to reach by car). Similarly, all of the Northern Beaches (and other NIMBY-heavy suburbs) lack rail access or BRT — but driving isn't any better. In the suburbs south of Sydney, many beaches can be reached by bus.

Manageable cities

Adelaide (South Australia) — while not as good as the Big Four (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth), Adelaide has a serviceable public transportation network comprising of buses, trains and a single tram line. Be sure to check the schedules and plan accordingly, as frequencies are not particularly high. Frequencies drop sharply on weekends and after the evening peak hour on weekdays, with 1-2 buses or trains per hour being typical, and some lines do not operate at all on the weekends. The TrailHopper, Adelaide's only hop-on hop-off bus, caters to winetasting tourists and has bus lines going to McLaren Vale (with different bus lines to the northern and southern areas), Hahndorf, and Barossa Valley.
Bendigo (Victoria) - the challenge is not getting to Bendigo, but rather within. Bendigo has its own network of 14 bus routes servicing most parts of the city and some outlying towns. As with elsewhere in Victoria, the PTV app is very helpful.
Canberra (Australian Capital Territory) – much of its roots were developed in the 1960s during the rise of the automobile, which has resulted in very wide roads, no suburban rail and a car-centric approach to its core districts. However, the city's progressive nature has resulted in the increase of reliable rapid bus links, bike freeways (and is the most bike-friendly city in Australia), and is in the midst of building a grand light rail network (which only consists of a single line as of 2024, though).
Central Coast (New South Wales) – there is a suburban railway that runs along the western parts of the Central Coast, including Woy Woy, Gosford or Wyong every 30 minutes. However, most of the beaches are only accessible via the region's infrequent bus network.
Hahndorf (South Australia) — accessible by public bus from Adelaide. Once you're in Hahndorf, the main tourist area is compact enough to be explored on foot.
Maitland (New South Wales) – Maitland might seem intimidating to visit without a car, especially considering how little appeal there is for tourists who aren't from the area. However, intercity suburban rail on the Hunter Line (HUN) are decently frequent from Newcastle, Scone and Dungog, with five stations in Maitland. While the Hunter Line is primarily targeted at getting commuters to Newcastle in the morning and back in the afternoon, you only need to walk a kilometre at max to a major point of interest to a station. Do be warned: there are few footpaths in Maitland compared to the average NSW city. Ultimately, getting without a car in Maitland might not be great, but it's not as bad as many other Australian or American cities of a similar size.
Wollongong (New South Wales) – you can reach Wollongong by tolerably frequent intercity suburban rail from Sydney with a north–south line between Helensburgh and Port Kembla with trains every 10–15 minutes during the day. The line branches at Conniston towards Shellharbour and Kiama, but it is single-track and with far lower frequencies. Nonetheless, it is the only railway line on NSW Trainlink's Intercity Network that is less than 1 km from a beach. These trains are often a much easier alternative to the vast majority of Sydney's beaches which lack rail access. Most of its sights not on the rail corridor are served by buses.

Bad cities

Albury-Wodonga (New South Wales/Victoria) – the largest border cities between New South Wales and Victoria are also one of the most car-centric (and car-brained) cities in the southeast with over 90 per cent of short trips made by car. While Albury CBD is right next to its railway station, Wodonga CBD might seem an eternity away from its CBD. For places away from the CBD, your primary mode of transit will be buses (which tend to be worse the further away you go from Albury CBD).
Alice Springs (Northern Territory) – Alice only has a singlular railway station in an industrialised part of the city. Unfortunately, crime in Alice Springs tends to be significantly higher than a typical Australian city, so extra caution needs to be taken when visiting this city without a car. Additionally, there are only eight bus routes in the city and they do not operate on Sundays.
Cairns (Queensland)
Darwin (Northern Territory)
Hobart (Tasmania) – The SkyBus operates express bus services between HBA Airport and the CBD for $22 one way per adult. Since the CBD is small enough to be traversed on foot, most important museums and points of interests are within a walking distance, with two outliers being MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) and Mount Wellington. To get to MONA, an express ferry route operates between the dock and the museum, while buses run to Mount Wellington. The Red Decker Hop-on Hop-off Bus has buses that connect Hobart (city loop tourist attractions), Mt. Wellington, and Richmond village. Transport Tasmania, a government-run bus service, has infrequent buses to Queenstown, Strahan, Burnie, Coles Bay, St Helens, and other towns. However, the Tasmanian capital remains the largest city without any passenger rail. Plans to build a light rail between the CBD and the northern suburbs have high public support, but little political will. This has left the only form of proper transit being slow, unreliable and infrequent buses (even disguised as a "metro"!), which are mainly centred at getting commuters in the suburbs to the CBD in the morning and back to the suburbs in the afternoon. Travellers, not even business travellers, aren't fully catered for.
Launceston (Tasmania) – dead, noisy and rundown is a good way to characterise the stroad-infested CBD. There isn't much saving grace here other than the painfully infrequent city buses.
Sunshine Coast and Noosa (Queensland) – while Queensland's CityRail trains do operate in the Sunshine Coast, they only operate on the western fringes of it, bypassing almost all population centres. Light rail has been continually turned down by vocal NIMBYs while a suburban rail will only open just in time for the 2032 Olympic Games. Until the railway line is built to Maroochydore, your best port of call is to use the infrequent buses.
Toowoomba (Queensland)
Townsville (Queensland)

Nature-based destinations

In the Greater Sydney area, some of the more easier ones include:

Parts of the Blue Mountains are accessible by train on NSW Trainlink's Blue Mountains Line. The stations are usually in the town centres, but it is never too much of a walk from the stations to the relevant destinations in the national park, provided you are east of Mount Victoria.
Brisbane Water National Park – NSW Trainlink's Central Coast & Newcastle Line has a station at Wondabyne, specifically centred at hikers. It is the only road-inaccessible station in Australia. If you don't mind a long walk through a drab suburban area, Woy Woy Station is closer to Old Balast Railway.
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is not entirely friendly for car-free travellers, but the Mt Ku-ring-gai and Berowra Tracks are well-connected with their respective stations (and each other). Both stations are on NSW Trainlink's Central Coast & Newcastle Line.
Lane Cove National Park – approximately a kilometre from North Ryde (Delhi Road) Metro Station on the Sydney Metro network.
Royal National Park – as the first national park established in the country, its initial modes of transportation were well before the automobile took off. The area where the visitor centre and the boatshed is accessible via a long but easy walking trail from Loftus station on the Sydney Trains network – if you're visiting on a Sunday, then heritage trams by the Sydney Tramway Museum may also operate on the now-disused Royal National Park Branch Line. There are also some hikes and lookouts near Waterfall and Otford Stations within easy walking distance. Loftus is on Sydney Trains' T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line, while Otford is on NSW Trainlink's South Coast Line. Waterfall is on both. However, there is no public transit access to Wattamolla Beach.

Some others that are accessible, but not the easiest, include:

Wyrrabalong National Park has several local Central Coast buses from Gosford and Wyong. Most of these don't exactly serve the national park but rather the nearby suburbs within walking distance.
Bouddi National Park is reachable within walking distance of the 59 departing at Woy Woy, but the route is painfully windy as it makes its way through the small streets of Woy Woy and Ettalong. Compared to Wyrrabalong, it is much harder to get to.

There are also some more difficult ones within the Greater Sydney area but doable with some significant extra time required:

Booti Booti National Park can be reached from bus routes 150 and 151 from Newcastle Interchange.
Budderoo National Park in the Illawarra is on the 125 bus route from Kiama station. However, there is only a single service to Minnamurra Visitor Centre (and back) and only on weekdays.
The Jingga Pools section of Dharawal National Park is reachable via the 884W bus from Campbelltown. There is no public transit to the Maddens Falls section.
Thirlmere Lakes National Park briefly passes along the 828 bus route between Picton and Bowral with around 6 services daily near Couridjah. From the old station, a small trail connects Couridjah to the park's hiking trail network.

Adelaide's Belair National Park can also be reached by train. Cleland National Park in the Adelaide Hills can be reached on Adelaide's bus network.