If you fly into Western Australia, via Perth Airport, whether International or Domestic, you have a couple of good Public Transport options for getting into the city, or making connections to many other locations. The trip into the city is only about 20 minutes and frequency is good. Apart from getting into the city from the airport, we have a look at what else Perth public transport offers the traveller.
Perth public transport: How far can I go?
First you’ll need some basic information about the Routes and a Journey Planner. We suggest you download the TransPerth App so you’ll have these at your fingertips, It’s a free download, available for Android and iOS.
Purchase your SmartRider travel card
Transperth SmartRider travel cards can be purchased at Smarte Carte on the ground floor of Terminal 1 International. You can reload value as you need it and they are the cheapest and most convenient way to travel on Transperth trains, buses and ferries, giving you a 10% discount off the single ticket cash fare. More Airport specific information here on both buses and trains.
- Transperth InfoCentres
- These InfoCentres offer sales of new SmartRider cards. You can find the locations and hours on the link.
- SmartRider Retail Sales Outlets (RSOs)
- Various newsagents and other retailers across Perth also sell SmartRider cards.
- Bus drivers
- You can purchase a new SmartRider directly from a bus driver.
Ticket and card reload machines don’t sell SmartRider cards.
Making connections
From what we could see, it’s easy to connect between different routes on the train and there were convenient bus hubs outside the main stations. There’s very little cover at the Fremantle Bus Hub and only limited covered seating, so make sure you have a hat or umbrella for protection from sun or rain. In the main Perth Station, for connections within the main station the signage is clear and depending on the line you are connecting with, there are lifts, steps and escalators to get you up to the internal connection as well as turnstiles to exit.
External connections can connect you across Roe St to the Art Gallery and Museum complex, through to Barrack St to the East and across Wellington St to the CBD. Use this one to get to the Perth Underground, it’s about a four minute walk.
How much are the fares?
At first, the fare schedule seemed rather complicated, but it’s not so bad when you break it down. We noticed most stations had a poster breaking it down in tables, easy to understand. But we definitely advise travellers to get a SmartRider card as it will prove useful the more you use it, despite the basic cost of the card.
How much will it cost?
The Perth Transport system (Transperth ) is divided into nine zones, but however many zones you pass through, if you use a SmartRider card, your fare is capped at a two-zone fare.
The Airport fare is the same price!
They don’t add any premium if you travel to or from Airport Central or Redcliffe Stations, unlike others including Sydney and Brisbane in Australia and New York JFK AirTrain for starters. We give you a hack for that one here.
Free Services
There are quite a few services you can get for free. Make use of them as much as you can, these are good savers.
CAT (Central Area Transit) buses
You don’t need any ticket or Smart Rider to use the free CAT buses. The routes are colour coded and the buses are marked accordingly. There are 5 services around the Perth CBD area and another three servicing the area around Joondalup Station, north of the city.
Free Transit Zones (FTZ)
The CBD has Free Transit Zones for both buses and trains, covering a fairly tight area within the CBD. You must tap on and off to use this service because these buses do travel out of the zone and you will be charged if you don’t get off at the last marked stop.
Sundays
Here’s a really handy tip to know. Sunday travel for all SmartRider holders is free, regardless of how far you travel. But you must still tap on and off and you must still have some balance. If you don’t have a SmartRider, you’ll have to buy a ticket. We used ours on Sunday and made sure we got good value!
At the Airport
If you’re not travelling to or from Terminal 1, you’ll need to take the Route 292 Free Shuttle between Terminals 3 and 4 and Redcliffe station. It’s a three minute ride and services run regularly, not more than 15 mins apart, depending on the time of day.
Adding Value
Ticket machines at train stations and ferry jetties will accept cash and card payments. Have your SmartRider card and payment ready, the instructions are clear and apart from having to enter the cash a couple of times (make sure it’s not folded), it was quick and easy.
We found much of this information after a good dig around the Transperth website. Here’s the link if you want to explore it yourself.
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