Melbourne’s public transport is a three tiered system: You catch a train to get somewhere, get a tram anywhere in between rail lines and catch a bus to places not covered by a tram. The system does need an overhaul, as it is not as effective as it should be and has been particularly bad recently. Melbourne’s population is simply too sprawled out for operators to make a profit and that makes it hard for them to invest in the system in return. Thankfully, it’s fairly easy to understand and the ticketing is relatively straight forward.

As for avoiding the city while the Games are on, I wouldn’t be so hesitant. Most of the events are outside the main city area and there’s no real need for people to cut through the city. If you aren’t on a tram/train line that goes to one of the events, then you shouldn’t be too bad. Just avoid the peak hour crushes and possibly Flinders St station if you can. If you’re heading to Murmur, Stork, Loop or similar in the city, you should be fine, there just might be some extra tourists around town (plenty of Canadians probably!). Just work out how long your trip will take and flick on the iPod.

Interestingly, today was the first day of the Games and I had the best train/tram ride to work (peak hour) I’ve had in weeks. Go figure.

The trams here ARE PAINFULLY SLOW. I am going to be avoiding downtown these next two weeks as I don’t own a car and must tram it. This is a shame because there are a couple non-commonwealth things I’d like to do (example: attend an interesting sounding discussion at a downtown pub) but my experiences with the trams here have been less then stellar.

When I first thought of coming to Melbourne, people would always tell me how amazing the public transport is…are the talking in reference to the rest of Australia? Or are they just plain on crack?