State Transit Authority of New South Wales
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| State Transit Authority | |
| Overview | |
| Brands | Sydney Buses Newcastle Buses & Ferries Western Sydney Buses |
| Mode | Commuter bus Bus rapid transit Ferry |
| Owner | Government of New South Wales |
| Area | Sydney Newcastle |
| Business | |
| Key People | Gladys Berejiklian (Minister) Peter Rowley (CEO) Barrie Unsworth (Chairman) |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Operations | |
| Fleet | 2,160 buses (May 2013) 2 ferries |
| Network | 300 + bus routes 1 bus rapid transit route 1 ferry route |
| Depots | 15 |
| Wharves | 2 |
| Ticketing | Automated Fare Collection System |
| Patronage | 206 million annually (2011/12) |
| Public transport | | |
The State Transit Authority of New South Wales (STA) is an agency of the Government of New South Wales based in Sydney, Australia operating bus and ferry services. The STA reports to the Minister for Transport. The chairman is former Premier of New South Wales Barrie Unsworth.
Structure
The State Transit Authority comprises three business units:
- Sydney Buses operates commuter bus services to much of inner metropolitan Sydney
- Newcastle Buses & Ferries operates commuter bus services throughout the Newcastle metropolitan area through to Swansea and the Newcastle-Stockton ferry
- Western Sydney Buses operates commuter bus services along the Liverpool-Parramatta T-way
Sydney Buses
Sydney Buses is a commuter bus service operating in Sydney. The network is loosely based on the reach of the city's former tram network.
Sydney Buses has grown significantly through acquisitions of smaller bus companies as reforms to contracting arrangements encourage consolidation in the industry. In December 1999 North & Western Bus Lines was purchased followed in early 2000 by Parramatta-Ryde Bus Service.[1][2]
Sydney Buses operates a number of high-profile services:
- Metrobus: high-frequency accessible buses with Sydney Buses operating M10, M20, M30, M40, M41, M50, M52 and M54[3]
- L90: Palm Beach - Central station with a journey length of 44 kilometres is the longest bus route operated by Sydney Buses[4]
- 333: Bondi Beach - Circular Quay, the city's first prepay only limited stops bus service[5]
- 380: a 24-hour service that operates between North Bondi, Bondi Beach, Bondi Junction, Paddington, Darlinghurst and Circular Quay
- 400: MetroLine connecting Burwood, Sydney Airport, the University of New South Wales and Bondi Junction
- 555: zero-fare CBD service along George and Elizabeth Streets between Circular Quay and Central station operating from 09:30–15:30 on weekdays (Thursdays till 21:00) and from 09:30–18:00 on weekends.[6]
- 890, 891, 892 & 895: prepay express routes connecting the CBD with the University of New South Wales[7]
- 998: zero-fare late-night service connecting The Rocks and Queen Victoria Building early on Saturday and Sunday mornings[8]
- 999: zero-fare late-night service connecting Kings Cross and Central station early on Saturday and Sunday mornings[8]
Newcastle Buses & Ferries
Newcastle Buses & Ferries is a commuter bus and ferry service operating in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. Newcastle Buses & Ferries operates 28 bus routes plus a ferry service across the Hunter River between Newcastle and Stockton. The network radiates from a bus terminal near Newcastle station. Major interchanges are located at the University of Newcastle, Wallsend, Glendale, Warners Bay, Belmont, Charlestown Square, Westfield Kotara and Broadmeadow station.
Trips within a designated area of the Newcastle CBD on State Transit-operated bus services are zero-fare under the Newcastle Alliance's Free City Buses programme. The zero-fare zone operates between 07:30 and 18:00, seven days a week. The programme receives funding from the Honeysuckle Development Corporation and the Government of New South Wales.
Western Sydney Buses
Formed in 2002, Western Sydney Buses operates route T80, a bus rapid transit service in Western Sydney. Passengers made 2.77 million journeys with Western Sydney Buses in the 2011/12 financial year.[9] The service will pass to Sydney Bus Region 3 operator Transit Systems in October 2013.
Network
Sydney Buses operates services in the following areas:
- 100 series - Northern Beaches
- 200 series - Northern District and North Shore
- 300 series - Eastern Suburbs
- 400 series - Inner West and Southern Suburbs
- 500 series - North Western Suburbs
- 890 series - University Of New South Wales
- 990 series - Late Nights City
In 2002 State Transit won a Ministry of Transport contract to operate T-way services. A newly-formed subsidiary, Western Sydney Buses, operates services on the Liverpool-Parramatta T-way in Western Sydney.[10]
Newcastle Buses & Ferries operates services in Newcastle. It also operates a ferry service between Queens Wharf on the Newcastle waterfront and Stockton across the Hunter River.
Tickets & fares
Sydney Buses and Western Sydney Buses services charge fares on the basis of distance. Newcastle Buses & Ferries bus services charge fares on the basis of travel time. Journeys on Newcastle buses within a certain area of the CBD are zero-fare during the day. Fares are set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales.
Fares are calculated on the number of sections travelled, where one section is approximately 1.6 kilometres.
State Transit services uses a variety of tickets under the MyZone structure. These include single ride tickets bought on board buses or from selected resellers, MyBus TravelTen, MyMulti, Pensioner Excursion Ticket and MyMulti DayPass.
On single ride tickets, the bus number + 4,000 is printed on the top left side, the time of travel, route number and direction of travel is printed on the bottom. For TravelTen tickets, the route number is printed on the left, followed by the section number, then the direction of travel, the time of travel, the bus number + 4,000 and the trip number.
State Transit services use the Automated Fare Collection System and its magnetic stripe multi-ride tickets. In 2006 route 333 Bondi Beach - Circular Quay was the subject of a prepay only test. The test was successful and further prepay routes have been introduced. In 2009 the STA progressively rolled out prepay only to all CBD bus stops between 07:00 and 19:00.
History
In view of its political sensitivity, the agencies responsible for public transport in New South Wales are frequently restructured. Buses and ferries were the responsibility of the Department of Government Transport until 1972, when it was merged with the New South Wales Government Railways to form the Public Transport Commission.
In July 1980 the Transport Authorities Act 1980 (NSW) separated the functions of the Public Transport Commission with the State Rail Authority taking responsibility for trains, and the Urban Transit Authority responsibility for buses and ferries.[11]
In 1989 the Urban Transit Authority was restructured as the State Transit Authority of New South Wales. The hydrofoils were replaced with high-speed catamarans and the MetroTen ticketing system introduced a few years before was replaced with the Automated Fare Collection System in use today.
In 2004 the STA's Sydney Ferries business was separated into a separate agency, Sydney Ferries Corporation.
Fleet
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As at May 2013 the STA fleet consisted of 2,160 buses operating in both Sydney and Newcastle from 15 depots.[12]
All State Transit vehicles are now fitted with digital CCTV surveillance with five cameras aboard each bus to improve security and deter vandalism and anti-social behaviour. The STA continues to improve its environmental impact with a large percentage of the fleet being powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) as well as meeting strict emissions regulations with 270 Euro 5 compliant vehicles entering service from 2007.
The following bus models entered service pre-1990 and are still in service:
- 188 - Mercedes-Benz O405 - Pressed Metal Corporation (currently being withdrawn)
- 1 - MAM SL202 - Pressed Metal Corporation (currently being withdrawn)
The following bus models entered service in the 1990s:
- 4 - Mercedes-Benz O405 - Pressed Metal Corporation PMC160
- 2 - Mercedes-Benz O405N - Ansair 'Orana'
- 2 - Scania L113CRB CNG - Ansair 'Commuter'
- 48 - Scania L113TRBL 14.5m - Ansair 'Orana'
- 100 - Scania L113CRB CNG - Ansair 'Orana' (currently undergoing refurbishment)
- 156 - Scania L113CRL - Ansair 'Orana' (currently undergoing refurbishment)
- 16 - MAN 11.220 - Ansair 'Orana'
The following bus models entered service in the 2000s:
- 4 - Volvo B10B - Custom Coaches '200' series
- 124 - Volvo B10BLE - Ansair / Phoenix Bus 'Orana'
- 4 - Mercedes-Benz O405 - Custom Coaches '516'
- 299 - Mercedes-Benz O405NH CNG - Custom Coaches 'Citaro'
- 170 - Volvo B12BLE - Custom Coaches 'CB60'
- 50 - Volvo B12BLE - Volgren 'CR228L'
- 80 - Volvo B12BLEA Articulated - Custom Coaches 'CB60'
- 2 - Volvo B12BLEA Articulated - Custom Coaches 'CB60 Evo II
- 270 - Volvo B12BLE Euro 5 - Custom Coaches 'CB60 Evo II'
- 254 - Mercedes-Benz O500LE CNG - Custom Coaches 'CB60 Evo II'
- 1 - Scania K310UA - Custom Coaches 'CB60 Evo II'
- 1 - Scania N310UA - Volgren 'CR228L'
- 1 - Scania K310UB - Volgren 'CR228L'
The following bus models entered service in the 2010s:
- 20 - Mercedes-Benz O500LE (diesel) - Custom Coaches 'CB60 Evo II'
- 150 - Volvo B12BLEA Articulated - Volgren 'CR228L' Euro 5
- 89 - Volvo B7RLE - 'Custom Coaches CB80' (currently entering service)
- 84 - Scania K280UB - 'Custom Coaches CB80' (currently entering service)
- 33 - Volvo B7RLE - Volgren "CR228L"
Newcastle Buses & Ferries operates two vessels, Shortland and Hunter, both of which entered service in 1988. The vessels are named for Newcastle pioneers Lieutenant John Shortland and Vice Admiral John Hunter.
Depots
Sydney Buses operate 15 depots. The depots (depot code indicated) are located at:
- Northern Region
- Western Region
- Eastern Region
- Southern Region
External links
- Transport Info - timetable and fare information
- State Transit Authority - corporate information
- Sydney Buses - corporate information
- Newcastle Buses & Ferries - corporate information
- Transport for NSW - corporate information
References
- ^ "State Transit Reaches Parramatta" Fleetline January 2000 page 22
- ^ "STA Purchases North & Western and Parramatta-Ryde" Australian Bus Panorama 15/4 February 1990
- ^ Metrobus Sydney Buses
- ^ By Lisa S. "Manly Daily | 2hrs 5mins – Sydney’s longest bus trip". Shoroc.com. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
- ^ Prepay Sydney Buses
- ^ Free Shuttle Information Sydney Buses
- ^ Timetable 890, 891, 892 & 895 Sydney Buses
- ^ a b Timetable 998 & 999 Sydney Buses
- ^ State Transit Authority Annual Report State Transport Authority 30 June 2012
- ^ Auditor General's Report Liverpool to Parramatta Bus Transitway Auditor General of NSW December 2005
- ^ Urban Transit Authority of New South Wales NSW Government State Records
- ^ State Transit Authority Australian Bus Fleet Lists
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