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Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia, is set on the banks of the Yarra River which is the major attraction for all tourists among the various Melbourne tourist attractions and is the heart of the state. It is the entertainment capital of Australia, with numerous events celebrating fashion, food and sport. The city is laid out in such a manner that getting around in Melbourne is very easy. The city offers a safe, reliable and efficient public transport system and Melbourne Bus Service is a good way to move around here. The service falls under the common system of transport in Melbourne called the Met and a Met ticket allows one to use the three transport services in Melbourne that include buses, trams and trains.
Melbourne Bus Service is quite good and operates on the same routes as trams, as well as other locations that cannot be reached by trains or trams. The only drawback with buses is that they generally take longer and often get caught up in traffic jams. There is an extensive bus network in Melbourne, which is operated by a number of privately owned bus companies. Some of these bus companies in Melbourne are:
- Broadmeadows Coaches Cardinia Transit
- Cranbourne Transit Driver Bus Lines
- Dyson's Bus Services Eastrans
- East West Bus Company Grenda's
- Hope Street Bus Lines InvictaBus
- Ivanhoe Bus Company Kastoria Bus Lines
- Martyrs Bus Service Melbourne Bus Link
- McKenzie's Moonee Valley
- Moorabbin Transit Moreland Buslines
- NationalBus Northern Bus Lines
- Panorama Coaches Peninsula Bus Lines
- Portsea Reservoir
- RyansBus Sandringham
- Brighton Coaches
- Sita Bus Lines Skybus Super Shuttle
- Sunbury Bus Service Tullamarine Bus Lines
- US Bus Lines Ventura Bus Lines
- Ventura MountDandy Westrans.
Melbourne Bus Service generally connects suburbs that are far away from rail lines, act as connecters to railway stations, allow cross-suburban travel and provide late night transport on Friday and Saturday nights. Buses normally run between 7 am to 7 pm from Monday to Friday and 8 am to 6 pm on Saturdays, although the State Government is trying to extend the network so that they can operate until 9 pm, seven days a week.
As part of the Melbourne Bus Service network, NightRider Buses run on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday mornings to provide a late night public transport service between the city center of Melbourne and suburban areas
Another way to tour Melbourne is by availing the Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle, which offers free rides to tourists wanting to visit Melbourne's tourist attractions. This particular Melbourne Bus Service runs on the main city destinations including:
- Melbourne Museum and Carlton Gardens
- Queen Victoria Market
- Melbourne Aquarium
- Immigration Museum
- Southbank
- The Shrine of Remembrance
- Royal Botanic Gardens
- Chinatown
This shuttle operates between 10 am and 4 pm everyday and takes around 50 minutes to go around the key tourist attractions of Melbourne. It also offers an on-board commentary that helps one gather information about these various places.
Another important feature of Melbourne Bus Service is the SmartBus, which was an initiative by the former Kennett government. SmartBus services usually run every 15 minutes on weekdays, 30 minutes during evenings and every 20 to 40 minutes on weekends.
Getting around Melbourne is fairly easy and can mostly be done on foot. A unique way to travel is to avail the trams. However, a safe, easy and quite comfortable way to get around in Melbourne is to use the Melbourne Bus Service.
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