Public transport in Sydney

Public transport in Sydney is provided by an extensive network of operating modes including commuter rail, light rail, buses and ferries. According to the 2006 census, in terms of travel to work or study Sydney has the highest rate of public transport usage among the Australian capital cities of 26.3% with more than 80% of weekday trips to/from Central Sydney being made by public transport. According to the New South Wales State Plan, the state has Australia's largest public transport system. The network is regulated by Transport for NSW.

Sydney's early urban sprawl can be traced in part to the development of its passenger rail network. The first rail services began in 1855, 67 years after the settlement's foundation and a tram network which began in 1861, becoming the Southern Hemisphere's largest by the 1920s. This rail infrastructure allowed working-class suburbs to develop at a large distance from the city centre.

Transport for NSW public transport services use the Opal ticketing system. The rollout of this contactless system started in December 2012 and completed in December 2014. The previous generation of ticketing products were withdrawn in August 2016.

Fares are controlled by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales. As of January 2009, Sydney public transport prices were slightly higher than in other mainland Australian cities.

Commuter bus services account for about half of the public transport journeys taken in the city on weekdays. Of the 921,000 weekday bus trips, 554,000 are provided by the State Transit Authority of New South Wales, a government authority, the remainder by a number of private-sector operators.

East of Strathfield, the majority of the bus network replaces the city's former tram network. Sydney Buses, a subsidiary of the State Transit Authority of New South Wales, operates a network tightly integrated with train and ferry services. Further from the CBD, services are generally operated by private-sector companies under contract to the NSW Government authority Transport for NSW. Under pressure from bus contracting reforms, many of the private bus companies have merged or entered into joint ventures. The largest private bus operator is ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, owners of Hillsbus. Other significant players include Punchbowl Bus Company, Busways and Transdev NSW.

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