Page 238 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sydney

236  SUR VIV AL GUIDE

Travelling by Bus holidays. Timetables are also
available at the Sydney Buses
Sydney Buses provides a punctual service that links up booth at Railway Square, while
conveniently with the city’s rail and ferry systems. As well as the Sydney Buses and Transport
covering city and suburban areas, there are regular routes NSW website and mobile app
that serve the airport (see p228) and privately owned hop-on provides comprehensive
timetables, routes and maps,
hop-off sightseeing buses. The Transport NSW Infoline and which you can download.
website (see p233) give the routes, fares and journey times.
The con struc tion of a new Light Rail line, due to open in Sightseeing by Bus
2019, means buses no longer travel down the main city
thoroughfare of George Street, but they do cover other The brightly coloured Sydney
Explorer buses (see p230) operate
parts of the city centre.
a daily hop-on hop-off service
that visits 26 Sydney sights in
with fewer stops; an L means it a loop from Circular Quay. The
makes limited stops. whole journey takes 90 minutes
Front seats on buses have if you don’t get off. Stops include
fold-up seats for wheelchairs Kings Cross, the Botanic Garden
and prams and are designated and Darling Harbour.
for the elderly, disabled and The same company runs the
parents with prams. Eating, Bondi & Bays Explorer that
drinking or smoking is departs from Central
prohibited on buses. Railway Station and
To signal that you wish calls at 10 stops,
to alight, press one including Bondi Beach,
of the stop buttons, Double Bay, Rose Bay
An Opal card and ticket reader on a bus for which are mounted on and Paddington.
tapping on and off the vertical handrails, Sydney Bus Buses run from 8:30am
well before the bus stop sign until 7:30pm, with buses
Using Sydney Buses reaches your stop. departing every 15–
Sydney Buses operates an 20 minutes. A combined
extensive network covering more ticket for both the city and
than 300 routes throughout the Bus Stops Bondi tours is A$45 for
city and suburbs. The removal of Main bus stations and inter- 24 hours, or A$65 for 48 hours.
buses from the city’s main north- changes are indicated by large, Sydney Buses travel to most of
south thoroughfare to accom mo- circular wayfinding signs, with a the same destinations at a lower
date the introduction of a new capital B on a blue background. cost, including Route 333 to
Light Rail line means most city Bus stops along a route are Bondi Beach and Watsons Bay,
buses travel along Elizabeth indicated by yellow-and-black but with less frequency. The
Street, north to Circular Quay. signs dis playing a profile of a advantage of the Explorer
Buses heading south generally bus and a boarding passenger. services is that you can get on
travel to the city’s eastern and The route numbers of the buses and off as often as you wish. To
southern suburbs, while those travelling along the route are make the most of your journey
going to Central, Broadway and listed below this symbol. choose the sights you want to
the inner west, including Glebe, Timetables are usually found see and plan a basic itinerary.
Balmain and Newtown, travel on the bus stop sign or in the Tickets can be bought on the
south along Castlereagh Street. nearby shelter. The Sunday buses at any stop or booked
To take a bus, you need a pre- time table also applies to public online in advance.
paid Opal card (see p230) or a
single-trip Opal ticket that you
can buy from the driver on board,
except for PrePay services, which
are cashless and require an Opal
card. All buses within the Central
Business District are PrePay only
from 7am to 7pm on weekdays.
Most buses are blue and
white. Red Metro buses travel
on longer routes between
major suburban hubs, often via
the city. An X in front of a bus
number means it is an express
bus that travels longer distances Hop-on hop-off Sydney Explorer bus in front of the Opera House

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