Same here, up in Sydney. I live in the inner city, theoretically I should be able to jump on a train or bus and get to anywhere my heart could desire. But to get to work I have to catch a bus all the way into the heart of the city (see note about congestion in reply to tcpip below), then another one north to Neutral Bay. Takes an hour outside peak times, longer in them (2 hours is still the record). It takes me 20 minutes off-peak to 40 minutes peak time to drive. And it costs me the same in petrol as the weekly ticket.

I hate the fact that this is true

You and me both. I would use PT if it were good value (in terms of both my money and my time), but quite frankly, it isn't.