State Transit Authority of New South Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|---|---|
| State Transit | |
| Overview | |
| Brands | Sydney Buses Newcastle Buses & Ferries Western Sydney Buses |
| Mode | Commuter bus Bus rapid transit Ferry |
| Owner | NSW Government |
| Area | Sydney, Newcastle |
| Business | |
| Key People | David Campbell (Minister) Peter Rowley (CEO) Barrie Unsworth (Chairman) |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Operations | |
| Fleet | 2050 buses 2 ferries |
| Network | 300 commuter bus routes 1 bus rapid transit route 1 ferry route |
| Depots | 14 |
| Wharves | 2 |
| Ticketing | Automated Fare Collection System |
| Patronage | 200 million (annually) |
| 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 is part of transport minister David Campbell's portfolio. The chairman is former New South Wales premier Barrie Unsworth.
The STA was established in 1989 to replace the Urban Transit Authority of New South Wales. In 2004, the STA's Sydney Ferries business was spun off as a state-owned company, Sydney Ferries Corporation. As of 2006, the State Transit Authority carries more than 200 million passengers every year on a network of over 300 routes aboard a fleet of some 1900 buses and two ferries.
The Authority comprises three business units:
- Sydney Buses, which provides commuter, charter and tourist bus services to much of inner metropolitan Sydney and some outer areas in The Hills District;
- Newcastle Buses & Ferries, which provides commuter bus services throughout the Newcastle metropolitan area through to Swansea and operates the Newcastle-Stockton ferry;
- Western Sydney Buses, which operates commuter bus services along the Liverpool to Parramatta bus transitway
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[edit] Sydney Buses
Sydney Buses is a commuter bus service operating in Sydney. The network—comprising buses in the series 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500—is loosely based on the reach of the city's now-defunct tram network (see Trams in Sydney).
In recent years, Sydney Buses has grown significantly through acquisitions of smaller bus companies as reforms to contracting arrangements encourage consolidation in the industry. This growth has meant that the fleet size has increased without a corresponding drop in the fleet's average age.
Until recently, Sydney Buses operated under the "State Transit" brand.
Sydney Buses operates a number of high-profile services:
- 10: Prepay Metrobus, operating between Maroubra Junction and Leichhardt (Norton Street) via Anzac Parade, Oxford Street, Town Hall, Railway Square and Broadway. It connects busy, tourist areas as well as four universities. This service is now in a trial period, which began on 12 October 2008
- 111: The Sydney Explorer, a tourist loop service billed as Sydney's official tour, in operation since 1980
- 130: "Pumpkin bus" operating a loop service around Freshwater, Dee Why, Naraweena, Frenches Forest and Allambie.
- L90: The 'L90' bus service operates the longest route in Sydney and has the most services[citation needed]
- 222: The Bondi Explorer, a tourist loop service stopping at attractions on the harbour's southern foreshore and the eastern beaches
- 333: Bondi Beach Prepay Only, the city's first prepay only limited stops bus service
- 400: MetroLine, connecting Burwood, the Airport, the University of New South Wales and Bondi Junction. There's also the Route 410 peak hour prepay service which operates along the route 400 between Rockdale and Bondi Junction and it bypasses the Airport.
- 555: Free CBD Shuttle, a zero-fare service operating along George and Elizabeth Streets between Circular Quay and Central Railway Station, the service commenced on Wednesday December 3 2008.
- 891 & 895: Pre-Pay express routes connecting the CBD with the University of New South Wales are State Transit's most profitable. There's also route's 890 & 892 which they're not Pre-paid services and they can operate to/from Circular Quay and they operate on limted peak hour services only.[citation needed]
- 999: a zero-fare late-night service connecting Kings Cross and Central station on Friday and Saturday late nights.
[edit] 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 Port Hunter between Newcastle and Stockton. The network radiates from a bus terminal near CityRail's Newcastle station, on the waterfront of Newcastle's CBD. Major interchanges are located at the University of Newcastle, Wallsend, Glendale, Warners Bay, Belmont, Charlestown, 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 7.30 am and 6.00 pm, seven days a week. The programme receives funding from the Honeysuckle Development Corporation and the Government of New South Wales.
[edit] Western Sydney Buses
Formed in 2002, Western Sydney Buses operates route T80, a bus rapid transit service in Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Passengers made 1.7 million journeys with Western Sydney Buses in the 2006-07 financial year. The service is not expected to break even until 2008.
Western Sydney Buses operates along a "transitway" (T-way), which consists of bus-only roadways and bus-only lanes connecting Liverpool railway station and Parramatta railway station via Smithfield.
[edit] 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
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
Newcastle Buses & Ferries operates services in Newcastle. Newcastle Buses & Ferries also operates a ferry service between Queens Wharf on the Newcastle waterfront and Stockton, across Port Hunter.
[edit] Tickets and 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.
A long-standing anomaly under which State Transit fares were kept lower than those of privately-owned bus companies ended in 2004, with slight increases to STA fares and significant decreases for private fares.
State Transit services uses a variety of tickets. These include single ride tickets bought on board buses, TravelTen, TravelPass, Pensioner Excursion Ticket and Daytripper. These tickets offer benefits to people who travel frequently on buses.
On single ride tickets, the registration number (bus ID) 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 registration number (bus ID) and the trip number.
State Transit services use the Automated Fare Collection System and its magnetic stripe multi-ride tickets. In 2006, the 333 Route (Bondi Beach) service 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 7 AM & 7 PM.
[edit] 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 the Askin Liberal government combined the agency with the New South Wales Government Railways to form the Public Transport Commission of New South Wales.
The PTC adopted the logo later to be used by State Rail and, in a modified form, CityRail today. The commission also introduced the blue and white livery that buses have, in one form or another, retained to this day—replacing a green and gold livery inherited from the city's tram rolling stock.
In 1980, buses, ferries and trains were again separated, by the Wran Labor government. Trains became part of the State Rail Authority of New South Wales while buses and ferries became the preserve of the Urban Transit Authority of New South Wales. Urban Transit operated buses in Sydney and Newcastle, and the Sydney ferry and hydrofoil network.
In 1989, the Greiner Liberal government renamed Urban Transit 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, and Wollongong bus services were turned over to private sector operators.
In 2004, the Carr Labor government spun the Sydney Ferries business into a separate Sydney Ferries Corporation.
[edit] Fleet
The State Transit Fleet consists of over 2050 buses operating in both Sydney and Newcastle from 13 depots. The State Transit Authority is currently in the process of updating its bus fleet with the purchase of 505 new vehicles in late 2006 and the refurbishment of more than 100 vehicles acquired in the early 1990s. An order for 150 Volgren bodied Volvo B12BLEA and 160 New Custom Coaches CB80 bodied Scania K-series has been confirmed with the first to be delivered in mid - late 2009. All new STA acquisitions from 1990 onwards have the following features:
- Full Air Conditioning
- Fabric Seating
- High visibility electronic destination equipment
- Accommodation for two wheelchairs (with exception to a few acquisitions between 1990 and 2000)
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 250 Euro 5 compliant vehicles entering service from 2007.
The following bus models entered service pre-1990 and are still in service:
- 15 - Mercedes-Benz 0305 - Pressed Metal Corporation 'MkIII'
- 9 - Mercedes-Benz 0305G Articulated - Pressed Metal Corporation 'MkIII'
- 351 - Mercedes-Benz 0305 - Pressed Metal Corporation 'MkIV'
- 247 - Mercedes-Benz 0405 - Pressed Metal Corporation 'MkV'
- 50 - MAN SL202 - Pressed Metal Corporation 'MkV'
The following bus models entered service in the 1990s:
- 49 - Scania L113TRBL 14.5m - Ansair 'Orana' (currently undergoing refurbishment)
- 11 - Mercedes-Benz 0405 - Pressed Metal Corporation 'PMC160'
- 100 - Scania L113CRB CNG - Ansair 'Orana' (currently undergoing refurbishment)
- 2 - Scania L113CRB CNG - Ansair 'Commuter'
- 156 - Scania L113CRL - Ansair 'Orana'
(currently undergoing refurbishment) - 2 - Mercedes-Benz 0405N - Ansair 'Orana'
The following bus models entered service in the 2000s:
- 4 - Volvo B10B - Custom Coaches '200' series
- 124 - Volvo B10BLE - Ansair 'Orana' (currently undergoing refurbishment)
- 4 - Mercedes-Benz O405 - Custom Coaches '516'
- 300 - 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'
- 250 - Volvo B12BLE Euro 5 - Custom Coaches 'CB60 Evo II' (168 delivered as of 18 October 2009)
- 255 - Mercedes Benz OC500LE CNG - Custom Coaches 'CB60 Evo II' (157 delivered as of 18 October 2009)
The following bus models entered service in the 2010s:
- 150 - Volvo B12BLEA Articulated - Volgren 'CR228L'
Newcastle Buses & Ferries operates two vessels, Shortland and Hunter, both of which entered service in 1988, Australia's bicentenary. The vessels are named for Newcastle pioneers Lt. John Shortland and Vice Admiral John Hunter.
[edit] Depots
Sydney Buses operates all over Sydney. At present there are 11 depots serving the Sydney metropolitan area. The depots (depot code indicated) are located at (By Region):
Northern Region
Western Region
Eastern Region
Southern Region
[edit] External links
- Transport InfoLine - timetable and fare information
- State Transit Authority - corporate information
- Sydney Buses - corporate information
- Newcastle Buses & Ferries - corporate information
- T-way - corporate information
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