"... Australia is very much like California. Population density is low. Almost all of Australia is car dependent. Land sizes are large. This makes public transp

"... Australia is very much like California. Population density is low. Almost all of Australia is car dependent. Land sizes are large. This makes public transport largely uneconomic and unworkable, with certain exceptions (eg parts of Perth, inner Sydney, Melbourne). Even then, that transport is largely limited to going into and out of the city. If you want to go somewhere else it's a huge problem. ..." Cletus, Melbournite here. Isn't the majority of the population urban and concentrated on the eastern sea board? The density is high. The picture you paint of car dependence is not quite as bad as you portray it in Melbourne at least. Public transport is actually pretty good compared to the roads cost wise & safety. It's not at European standards, but Europe is far denser and politically different. It's also hard to lump the cities together. Melbourne has had good public transport, Perth better. Sydney is pathetic. Having said that, if you live outside the 50km zone (less in some capitals) of Melbourne you will either get a car or depend on day and irregular public transport, if at all. The key point to remember here is, traditionally the major capital cities of Australia moved from serviceable public transport to car based travel, only when the sprawl of the 70's occurred where land use, surpassed infrastructure and the will to supply it. Transport moved from communal and "tax based" to private and "user pays".