Buses in Sydney
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Route 333 at Circular Quay in the new Transport for NSW livery
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| Overview | |
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| Locale | Sydney |
| Transit type | Bus / Bus rapid transit |
| Annual ridership | 232 million in 2014-15 |
| Website | transportnsw.info |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 1905 |
| Operator(s) | |
Buses account for close to six per cent of trips each day in the Australian city of Sydney, New South Wales, forming a key part of the city's public transport system. The network initially evolved from a privately operated system of feeder services to railway stations in the outer suburbs, and a publicly operated network of bus services introduced to replace trams in the inner suburbs. The bus network has undergone major reform in recent years, with the New South Wales Government taking responsibility for route and fare-setting, opening contracts for most routes up to competitive tendering, and introducing more cross-regional services.
The New South Wales Government's transport authority, Transport for NSW, administers six distinct bus networks in Sydney:
The networks are part of Transport for NSW's Opal ticketing system.
Each route within these six networks is assigned to one of 14 contract regions. Each of these regions is assigned to either the Government-owned bus operator, the State Transit Authority or awarded on the basis of a competitive tender process to a private operator. At present, State Transit holds four regions, while nine private operators hold the other 10. In 2014-15, 232 million passenger journeys were made on Sydney's bus networks.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Sydney's public transport network was composed of a suburban railway and inner-city trams, both operated by the New South Wales Government Railways. These were complemented by various privately operated ferry services on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River, and a few horse-drawn services.
The Railways experimented with a steam-powered bus service from Potts Point to Darlinghurst in 1905, but the vehicles quickly proved unsatisfactory and the service was shut down within a year. The city's second bus route ran from Newport, in the north of the Northern Beaches district, to Manly, commencing in 1906. This was operated by the privately owned Manly-Pittwater Motor Omnibus Company. The company did not prosper, however, and the business was wound up in 1908.
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