Public transportation in Kyoto

My boyfriend spends a good amount of time there, so subsequently I stayed there a few short times. According to him, and in my experience as well, the buses are great.

The cost should be listed on the front of the bus. There are a few fixed priced buses as well as buses where you take a ticket with a number on it. Then as you sit, the cost will change accordingly for your number -- pay the amount of yen listed on the front based on your ticket number.

There are also quite a few places where you can rent bikes to ride around the city. Wouldn't recommend them for some of the paths to some temples (upward hills), but seem A-Ok for most other places.
I never rented so have no idea what the prices are, but shouldn't be too bad.

You can also, of course, rent a car if you have a Japanese or international drivers license.