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Help on Using GetAbout Australia
GetAbout Australia provides timetables and information about coach, rail and ferry services for regional Australia. Information about the search options is given below. Many pages contain links in words and icons. If you want to know more hover over the section looking for links. Hints are shown in purple.

Legend
GetAbout Australia is updating its icons.
Legacy icons are on the left, with new icons on the right.
Mode
T
Regional/Intercity Train
L
Local/Suburban Train
R
Light Rail
F
Ferry
C
Intercity Coach
B
Local Bus
X
Taxi Service
Service
r
Reservation Required
o
Reservation Optional
J
First Class
K
Economy Class
JiK
First & Economy Class
v
Advertised Connection
x
Change Service
w
Change to Following Service
f
Request Stop
q
Local Carriage Restrictions
s
School Days Only
h
School Holidays Only
+1
Next Day
+2
Two Days Later
-1
Previous Day
-2
Two Days Earlier
y
Local Transit Connections
A
Airport Connections
n
Wharf
D
Accompanied Cars Conveyed
z
Disability Accessible
Z
Accessible by Reservation
Q
Quiet Carriage Available
N
Wifi
G
Visit Link
H
Sleeping Accommodation
b
Refreshment Service
k
Dining Service
k
Dining Service
Tray Service
j
Premium Lounge
j
Club Lounge
a
Alcohol Service
I
Information
M
Telephone
p
Comfort Facilities
d
Luggage Handling
V
Hail & Ride
t
Ticket Office
g
Covered Waiting Area
W
Designated Bus Stop
l
Lockers
e
Bicycle Facilities
P
Parking
c
Connections
m
Detail
S
Point of Interest
U
End of Service
E
Note!
u
Transfer
Y
Days of Operation
Shower Facilities
Accommodation Booking Service
arr
Arrive
dep
Depart
D
d
Sets Down Only
U
u
Picks Up Only


Journey Planner
The journey planner is designed to allow you to search between cities and rural locations. With the journey planner you need only to know your origin locality and destination locality.

The predictive text allows you to type in the first few letters of the locality you are seeking and then provides a selectable list of likely places. A limited range of suburban stops which form part of a longer distance journey are shown separate from the main city name. For example, in Adelaide you will find a separate reference to the suburb of Elizabeth. It generally will not display suburban journeys, unless they make up part of a larger regional or country trip. For example, you can find results for Dandenong to Koo-Wee-Rup but not Dandenong to Cranbourne or Melbourne. In many localities there can be multiple pick up points and these are listed in your search findings.

To complete your search, you need to tick the box to prevent spam. This tests that it is a real person making the request.

Results of searches are generally dependent on there being no more than 3 stages or services to a journey. For example, you can search Perth to Cairns because the journey can be completed in no more than three stages, but more complex although convenient journeys might not be found in a single search. If you do not get any results then try searching using an intermediate locality. For example, Perth to Cairns will yield more trip options if you search Perth to Sydney, then Sydney to Cairns. Some searches may appear to be over up to 6 stages, but that is only possible where some otherwise separate services have been merged into one service table. For example, most services between Marlo and Melbourne and Melbourne and Lancefield have been merged, making it possible to search from Marlo to Lancefield even though you have to travel on at least four separate services.

The initial result screen is designed to provide an overview of services available. You then select the service combinations that are of interest and look at their detail in the next window. From there you can also get specific detail on timetables for each service.

Connection Policy
All services that are direct are shown in the Journey Planner results table, irrespective of time or length of journey.
All other results are dependent on connections being included in the database, this is a project that is constantly being worked on, with priority given to failed requests.

Results are subject to a '50% rule', something which should be improved over time. At this time the rule implies that if your search result includes any journey that has time or distance in excess of 50% of the shortest journey, then that result will be excluded from the display. This is to reduce circular and or convoluted suggestions.

The criteria for a connection is generally, either:
* the operator of the services advertises this as a connection, irrespective of the time provided to make this connection;
or,
* based on practical knowledge, the expectation that a reasonable person, of average fitness, could make such a connection.
Criteria include, but are not limited to: distance between pick up and set down points; complexity of an interchange site; and time that the on-going operator requires for check-in.
People who are not of average fitness should consider allowing extra time between connections.

Transfer times are given, but how a passenger chooses to make that transfer is not included or inferred in the results, and no indication is given about proximity between transfer points.

Localities
Localities will give you information on all services arriving and departing from the selected locality. Each stop along the way then links to show all services for that locality.

To complete your search, you need to tick the box to prevent spam. This tests that it is a real person making the request.

Operators
This will give you information on all services included in GetAbout Australia for the selected operator. Many times not all services provided by a given operator are shown in GetAbout Australia. These may be local services outside the scope of this timetable.

To add a GetAbout Australia icon to the Home Screen of your mobile device, visit this link.
Future Enhancements
To make it easier to search, an option to search by map is under development.

Currently transit operators in capital cities are shown at the commencement of the operators list along with links to their respective sites. Options to show transit providers in regional localities and for major airports is also being developed.

A project to provide 'sheet' tables that show all services and times for a specific route is essentially complete and a temporary link is shown on the Searches page.


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