I just recently started working in Collingwood, but I currently live in St Kilda. For the first few days, I was taking the notoriously slow trams up St Kilda Rd into the CBD, then transferring onto the 86 tram. All told, the trip would never take less than an hour. After the third day of doing this, a coworker said, "why don't you try the 246 bus?"
I've never reviewed a bus before (and certainly not positively) so it's a testament to how great this service really is. The bus stop is about a block from my apartment and a quick five-minute walk from my office (which takes me by some delightful little cafes, great for a quick coffee stop on the way to work). Unfortunately, the dedicated bus lane on Hoddle doesn't do much to speed up the service (and there is no dedicated lane at all on Punt), so it is a bit stop-and-go at times, but it's still a good 15-20 minutes faster than the tram-to-tram route I was taking before.
For all us south-siders who need to get to the north-side (or vice versa) and don't need (or want) to trek into the city to do it, this is a great alternative. And, as others have said, you pretty much always get a seat since Melburnians are so afraid of buses. (Try getting a seat on a tram during the morning rush...) read more