The Best & Worst Sydney Suburbs for Public Transport
Scored across 781 suburbs using real Opal journey times, weekly fare costs, and network connectivity. The gap between top and bottom is bigger than you'd think.
How the score works
Each suburb is scored 0–100 based on three equally weighted factors: journey quality (travel time to key destinations, penalising waits and transfers), cost efficiency (weekly Opal spend including caps), and connectivity (how many destinations are reachable and with how many transfers). Full methodology →
🏆 Top 10 Best Connected Suburbs
These suburbs sit at the top of Sydney's 781-suburb ranking — excellent journey times, low weekly Opal costs, and strong multi-destination connectivity.
What makes them great
The top performers are almost all inner-city suburbs clustered around the CBD rail network. Sydney CBD itself scores 92.7 — you can reach almost anywhere in the network directly or with a single transfer. Surry Hills, Chippendale and Ultimo benefit from overlapping bus and rail coverage, keeping both journey times and weekly costs very low.
| Rank | Suburb | Score | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | #1 of 781 suburbs |
92.7 | |
| #2 | #2 of 781 suburbs |
86.7 | |
| #3 | #3 of 781 suburbs |
86.6 | |
| #4 | #4 of 781 suburbs |
86.5 | |
| #5 | #5 of 781 suburbs |
85.9 | |
| #6 | #6 of 781 suburbs |
85.8 | |
| #7 | #7 of 781 suburbs |
84.2 | |
| #8 | #8 of 781 suburbs |
83.6 | |
| #9 | #9 of 781 suburbs |
83.5 | |
| #10 | #10 of 781 suburbs |
83.5 |
⚠️ Bottom 10 Worst Connected Suburbs
These suburbs sit at the bottom of Sydney's rankings — long journey times, high per-trip costs, and very limited destinations reachable without multiple transfers.
Why they score so low
The worst-connected suburbs are almost all Hawkesbury River ferry communities and Blue Mountains fringe areas — places with no rail access, infrequent or no bus services, and where reaching central Sydney by PT can take 2–3 hours. Maldon (score: 34.6) sits at the very bottom, with Morning Bay and Lovett Bay — accessible mainly by private boat — just above it.
| Rank | Suburb | Score | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| #781 | Last of 781 suburbs |
34.6 | |
| #780 | #780 of 781 suburbs |
35.4 | |
| #779 | #779 of 781 suburbs |
37.2 | |
| #778 | #778 of 781 suburbs |
38.2 | |
| #777 | #777 of 781 suburbs |
38.8 | |
| #776 | #776 of 781 suburbs |
38.8 | |
| #775 | #775 of 781 suburbs |
38.9 | |
| #774 | #774 of 781 suburbs |
39.7 | |
| #773 | #773 of 781 suburbs |
41.3 | |
| #772 | #772 of 781 suburbs |
41.9 |
Find your suburb's score
Search any of Sydney's 781 suburbs to see its full PT report — journey times, weekly Opal costs, and a full connectivity map.