The rise of public transportation in Australia's urban areas was surprisingly fast. The process was well on its way by the end of the Nineteenth century. The citizens of Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, and Hobart all enjoyed the use of some sort of urban transport, whether in the form of omnibus, tram, or train. But of these cities, Melbourne and Sydney were altered the most in regard to urban sprawl. Their suburbs were sometimes determined well in advance of the population that would inhabit them. Initial urban panning was the norm in Australia, where as in Europe the urban areas had already been developed for hundreds of years. Public transportation's growth had many profound effects on the final urban geography of Australian cities.

In Australia's first 50 or so years, all land transport was done with horse and buggy or wagon. This form of transport was very hard on the roads of the time. Horse hooves, by their design, cut and tear the road as they traverse it. The hooves followed by heavy loads on thin wagon wheels caused many roads to become almost impassable. Add to this the wet winters of Melbourne and one would rather not attempt travel, even to the closest of destinations. But even so horses, buggies, and wagons were the only alternative.

Australiašs capital cities grew rapidly during the first half of the nineteenth century. Sanitation and overcrowding became two of the cities major problems. This population increase also caused the cities to become more spread out. Melbourne was still a "walking" city though. The working class lived close to the factories or the docks of Port Melbourne, the middle-class professionals lived close to their jobs at the city center.

The first step to public transport came, in the late 1840's, with the wide spread use of the horse and buggy "taxi". These were used by the middle class to travel to and from their homes without the worry of bringing their own horse. It was now possible to travel a fair bit without the need of your own horse. Those who were constant "walkers" could now enjoy traveling some distance around the cities without the constant upkeep of a horse. That upkeep would consist of a stable, food, grooming, and tack. The middle and upper-class were the only ones who could afford such upkeep, therefore they could live just outside of walking distance from the CBD. Congestion was lessened on the roads in the city center mostly because people were more prone to leave their personal horses and buggies at home. This also had a positive effect on the sanitation problem. There were not as many horses around to leave manure behind on the streets. The horse drawn taxi, however, did not have much of an effect on the distribution of people to locations outside the city center. After all, the technology was still the same. The lone horse could only carry you so far, so fast. Population redistribution becomes more prolific later, as public transport speed grows between termini.

True public transport came in the 1860's with the omnibus. The omnibus, however, did not implement new technology, it was still pulled by horses over the same bumpy, muddy roads. (Attempts were made at fixing the roads, but most failed.) The omnibus company, nevertheless, did provide regular routes and timetables. This allowed more people to make use of the system, because now they could plan their day with the system in mind. Citizens who had stables and horses now began to think that they were no longer needed. The omnibus could provide transport at a reasonable cost to the middle-class. The working-class, however, could not afford the omnibus for day to day travel, therefore they still walked to and from work.

The horse drawn tram was the forerunner to today's tram system in Melbourne. This type of transport made use of rails. These rails were integral to the popularity of public transport. Rails made the ride much smoother and faster. This form of transport allowed those that could afford it to move from the city center to outer suburbs with relative ease. After the onset of the omnibus, the face of public transport changed rapidly over the next twenty years. It is also at this point that the capital cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth) began to experiment with various types of public transport.

Sydney made use ferries to transport its wealthier citizens to places like Manly and North Sydney (suburbs across Sydney Harbor). It was also the first to use steam trams in 1879 to transport people during an exhibition. "The tram was the most popular event of the Exhibition, and an overwhelming success financially, and the Omnibus Company again approached the authorities for the right to construct (more) lines." These trams were regarded as remarkable fast and efficient, their only draw back was the cinders and smoke that they produced.

Melbourne avoided steam trams altogether and made use of a cable tramway in 1885. These again were faster than their predecessor, the horse drawn tram. This technology was already at work in San Francisco, so the system was quickly built and became more popular than the horse tram. "By 1891 Melbourne's forty-seven miles of double-track line was the worlds biggest and most efficient integrated cable system, carrying nearly fifty million passengers a year..."

Sydney decide that the steam tram system had grown old, and around 1893 decided to go with a completely electric tram system. Electric systems were cheaper than the cable and far cleaner than steam. In the end all tram systems became electric.

Public transport allowed the people of Australia's capital cities to disperse from the heavily populated and congested city centers. These cities changed from walking cities to public transport cities over the course of this transformation. This transformation took place as public transportation became faster, i.e. cable and electric trams. People belonging to the middle and upper-class had already started leaving the city to reside in suburbs that were void of connected housing and had the luxury of a yard or garden. At this time cities like Melbourne experience large growth due to immigration. "Between 1851 and 1861 Melbourne's annual rate of increase averaged a staggering sixteen per cent." In terms of shear numbers, from the period 1881 to 1891 Melbourne's population grew from 284,874 to 491,700, that is an increase of 206,926 people. People moved out of the city to the suburbs, but they were quickly replaced by incoming immigrants. This fact is somewhat important, as to not portray that there was a mass exodus out of city centers. Workers still lived fairly close to work but had the option of living far enough away from work to use the tram system.

Public transport changed the face of Melbournešs and other urban areas throughout Australia. It helped change Melbourne from a strictly walking city to a public transport city in just less then half a century. All types of public transport, omnibus, tram and train were very important in the maturation of Australia's urban areas.