246 Bus

Don’t get me wrong, I hate buses just like any good Melbourne dweller should, but the 246 surprises me in its ability to deal with St Kilda being on such an annoying place. Loses a star because it often turns up when I need to get to the city and also the junkies.

I just recently started working in Collingwood, but I currently live in St Kilda. For the first few days, I was taking the notoriously slow trams up St Kilda Rd into the CBD, then transferring onto the 86 tram. All told, the trip would never take less than an hour. After the third day of doing this, a coworker said, «why don’t you try the 246 bus?»
I’ve never reviewed a bus before (and certainly not positively) so it’s a testament to how great this service really is. The bus stop is about a block from my apartment and a quick five-​minute walk from my office (which takes me by some delightful little cafes, great for a quick coffee stop on the way to work). Unfortunately, the dedicated bus lane on Hoddle doesn’t do much to speed up the service (and there is no dedicated lane at all on Punt), so it is a bit stop-​and-​go at times, but it’s still a good 15 – 20 minutes faster than the tram-​to-​tram route I was taking before.
For all us south-​siders who need to get to the north-​side (or vice versa) and don’t need (or want) to trek into the city to do it, this is a great alternative. And, as others have said, you pretty much always get a seat since Melburnians are so afraid of buses. (Try getting a seat on a tram during the morning rush…)

Brilliant bus service that somehow bypasses the traffic congestion that is a daily chore on hoddle/​punt. Best link between North and South until Australia realizes the advantage of spending on a subway system (sorry, personal desire to travel subterranean I guess).
Good bus and they sometime place some great tunes!

I completely forgot about my prior infatuation with this bus route until it popped up on my «recent reviews» page. I lived in Clifton Hill and studied in Prahran. Do I get two trains, two trams, or one almost door to door bus? Uh no choice really.
In the peak hour mornings there are allocated bus lanes which means through certain areas the bus easily zooms past the morning commuting crush. The afternoons between five and six SUCK trying to get down Hoddle but read a book or listen to music and time passes quickly. I usually had to fight to stay awake. Due to Melburnians fear of buses yes there are usually seats which is a plus.
Any north siders wanting a quick trip to Richmond or beyond (Chapel street is only a five minute walk from Punt road) jump on the 246 and avoid the city!

OK, so it feel pretty strange reviewing a bus, but the 246 Bus service (provided by Ventura Buses) is one of the two great public transport routes in Melbourne city.
The 246 runs from Clifton Hill to Elsternwick down the notoriously shit arterials of Hoddle Street and Punt Road. Effectively this links the likes of Elsternwick Park (where the annual Community Cup footy game between the Espy Rockdogs and the RRR & PBS Megahertz has been played for the past few years) and Cliffy Hill; but more importantly, the route cuts through Richmond along the way, therefore eliminating the dogleg into the city for those travelling north to south or vice versa. Now you may be thinking ‘so what?’ ‘So what’ is that more often than not, the bus will actually charge on past all traffic stranded on the Hoddle/​Punt wasteland and get you to your destination quicker and with less stress than driving. Also, if you’ve a mind for a few beers say, at the Corner Hotel for example, you can leave the car behind and get yourself a skin full. Plus, bloody nobody uses this service, so you always get a seat. And, it’s pretty regular (like every 10 minutes during peak times and 20 minutes for the most part after that). It’s gold.