The joys and woes of public transportation

Public transport here plays such an integral part in my everyday life here in Melbourne. And coming from back home, the system here so efficient. Trains, Trams, Buses. All with a timetable, all arrives either on time or just a few minutes off. You can view it’s network to work out how to get from A to B. Why in fact, on it’s website, there’s a journey planner! Simply type in where you want to go , like you address, a landmark, a town. And walla, the entire thing planned out with step by step details and a choice of times as well!

I pay $110 for my monthly ticket that lets me ride any mode of public transportation for as many times I need throughout the entire month. You might think that cost a lot but my recent trip to kl begs to differ!

Now If I were to work say in KL, KL. The golden triangle. Now I would need either to drive to Bangsar station or to be drop off. If I did drive, I would have to pay RM5 to park the car there.

Then it cost me RM2 one way to get to KLCC station using the LRT. SO RM4 two ways.

On a normal working day that will cost:
RM5 + RM4 times 20 working days is already RM180.

Lets not put exchange rate into account. That already $70 difference and my tickets takes me ALL transportation for the ENTIRE month.

Say, If I felt like going to Sungai Wang for Lunch, I would have to take the Bukit Nanas monorail. Pay another I think it was $1.50 ONE WAY. So that day itself with my car parking, it would have cost me RM12!

No wonder everyone drives to work. Might as well keep monthly parking somewhere that might be in the circa of RM100-RM150 a month.

But boy driving to KL is another madness by itself. Done it for over two years. And my jobs at that time was not even a 8:30 to 5! With my flexible/alternative hours, I still grumbled.

Still, here in Melbourne, the transportation does not comes with it’s crazy moments. I will tell those stories another day