Getting around Canberra

Canberra public transport happens to be introducing smart cards too. I think theirs will work since they don't have zone boundaries. Their magnetic ticketing system seems to be dying just as Metcard is. However, their single-trip tickets sold on buses are made using a different machine to the validator. This means they can still sell tickets when the validator is broken.

Their 10 trip ticket is worse than Melbourne's in that you can use more than two trips in a day - it's not capped. Their weekly tickets are slightly more expensive than a 10 trip ticket.

Buses are frequent and in peak time can come every 5 minutes or clump together. The bus bays in Civic don't seem so well planned out as a dozen buses fight over four spaces.

The buses seem generally older than Melbourne, lacking low-floor and air-conditioning. However, they do give the impression of being well-maintained.

Older bus stops do look nice and appear to give more shelter than the newer glass ones. Getting to the bus stop is another matter. There are more big ants in Canberra. Street lighting and footpaths are sorely lacking in suburban ACT.

 Commuter unicyclist in office attire with backpack.

Also, bus drivers seem extraordinarily nice. They will give you a verbal greeting when boarding and validating your ticket. Well, I suppose they could be nice from treating the whole city as a joke. :S

Rear doors are not used except at interchanges. So at minor stops, people will need to walk to the front of the bus.