Sydney is the Australian city that attracts the most global attention with its beautiful harbour, its iconic attractions of the harbour bridge and opera house. Tourists may leave Sydney with a complimentary view of Sydney’s public transport but the Sydneysider’s assessments of Sydney’s public transport system is often much harsher, especially if the journey requires travel beyond the immediate centre of the city. In Sydney, the reference point of what constitutes a functioning transport system is informed by the success of the transport system in meeting the needs of the participants and observers at the Olympics in 2000. Changes to the transport system to provide more multimodal travel were supported by Sydneysiders and visitors and this paper analyses why this success has not been translated into everyday public transport. The analysis of the paper allows the opportunities which still exist for Sydney to benefit from the success of the Olympics to be highlighted. These opportunities involve strengthening the opportunities for, and acceptance of, multimodal trips by the travelling public
