With increasing petrol costs and sheer volume of cars on the road, more Australians than ever before are looking at other alternative ways of getting around. It’s no wonder, with the latest Triple A Transport Affordability Index showing that the typical Australian city household now spends $18,147 a year on transport.
Here are six platforms you’ll want to use if you’re going to try getting around without a car — or just trimming transport costs down:
Your local public transport site: Every city’s public transport network has a free app to help you plan your journey. Get route and timetable information, as well as alerts for service disruptions or delays, and real time updates on when your next bus will arrive.
Get Picked Up: Move over Uber, Get Picked Up is the biggest Australian owned ridesharing company. There are no time of day price fluctuations, so no surge pricing even if you are picked up at midnight on a Friday. Rides are pre-booked and you can choose your preferred driver.
Moovit: Moovit uses data from local public transport operators to give you real-time departure, arrival and service disruption information. It shows you walking directions to your closest stop and lets you know how many more stops before you need to get off (so you can get engrossed in your latest page-turner without worrying about missing your stop).
Transfer car: Rental companies need to reposition their fleet for new hires and travellers can help relocate those cars. It’s a scenario where everyone wins: travellers get a free ride and rental car companies save on expensive relocation costs.
Car Next Door: If you need a vehicle to transport your stuff, or get somewhere tricky, you can rent one from a local who isn’t using theirs. Car Next Door is a neighbour-to-neighbour car-sharing service that lets you rent cars, vans and utes from real people in your neighbourhood. It’s free to join and you can borrow cars by the hour or day.
