We've previously covered how you can get around in your own car in our roundup of iPhone GPS applications, but what happens when you need to step out of the car and onto public transport in Australia?
Regional Australia doesn't get much of a look in, but in selected capital cities you've got a few options to keep you going. Selected Australian cities do incorporate public transport options within Google Maps, and if you're a resident of Adelaide or Canberra it's your only option.
Despite fervent searching, we couldn't find anything at all to help out residents of Darwin or Hobart in the App store -- but we'd love to be proved wrong.
If you're resident in Perth, you've got a couple of options. Metro Perth ($3.99) offers comprehensive train, bus and ferry timetables, as well as directions to your nearest public transport stop. iTT Perth ($2.49) is a slightly cheaper option for Perth public transport users.
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| Metro Perth |
The same developers who make Metro Perth also make a Brisbane version, suitably named Metro Brisbane ($3.99) gets you train timetables only, however, not buses.
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| Metro Brisbane |
Travel a little further south into Sydney, and you've got a lot of choices, with the paid Metro Sydney ($3.99) and the oddly named Tube Sydney ($5.99). Tube Sydney's more of a tourist's application, however, as it doesn't appear to have timetables built in.
On the more penny pinching side, TripView ($2.49) also comes in a free version, although you don't get to save your trips when you quit the application in TripViewLite. There's also the free TransitSydney, although that currently doesn't include bus services.
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| TripView Lite Sydney |
Melbournians get the best deal in the country, however. There's the free MetLink Melbourne application for trains and buses, but the award for the funkiest iPhone transport App has to go to TramTracker.
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| TramTracker - the one and only |
Not only do you get route info and service changes, but real-time tram information using the iPhone's GPS to tell you where the tram you're on actually is, and when it'll hit the next series of stops.
Also in this series, Amazing apps for your phone:
Part 4: What's the weather like out there?
Part 3: top 3 twitter clients for iPhone
Part 2: here's how to get cheap iPhone apps
Part 1: How to make the most out of your iPhone's GPS
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