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 | John Watkins (Minister) John Lee (CEO) Barrie Unsworth (Chairman) |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Operations | |
| Fleet | 1900 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 John Watkins'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 the Northern Beaches, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West, Parramatta, Ryde, Hills District and North Shore areas of Sydney
- Newcastle Buses & Ferries, which provides commuter bus services to Newcastle, Stockton and 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:
- 111: The Sydney Explorer, a tourist loop service billed as Sydney's official tour, in operation since 1980
- L90: The 'L90' bus service operates the longest route in Sydney and has the most services
- 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 express bus service
- 370: Nicknamed the "Coffee Express"[citation needed], the 370 connects the café precincts of Leichhardt, Glebe, Newtown and Coogee
- 400: MetroLine, connecting Burwood, the Airport, the University of New South Wales and Bondi Junction
- 890 series: the four express routes connecting the CBD with the University of New South Wales are State Transit's most profitable[citation needed]
- 999: a free late-night service connecting Kings Cross and Central station on Saturday and Sunday mornings
[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 fare-free under the Newcastle Alliance's Free City Buses programme. The free 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 West
- 600 series - Beecroft/ North Rocks
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 the following areas:
Newcastle Buses & Ferries 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 free of charge 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 use the Automated Fare Collection System and its magnetic stripe multi-ride tickets. Sydney Buses is participating in a trial of the city's next-generation Tcard smart card ticketing system. In 2006, the 333 Route (Bondi Beach) service was the subject of a prepay test. The test was ultimately successful and the upcoming 297 service through the Lane Cove Tunnel to be prepay as well.
[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, Newcastle and Wollongong; 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 following bus models entered service in the 1990s:
- 50 - Scania L113TRBL 14.5m - Ansair 'Orana'
- 100 - Scania L113CRB CNG - Ansair 'Orana'
- 156 - Scania L113CRL - Ansair 'Orana'
- 2 - Mercedes-Benz 0405N - Ansair 'Orana'
- 17 - MAN 11.220 "midi buses" - Ansair 'Orana', in service in Newcastle
The following bus models entered service in the 2000s:
- 4 - Volvo B10B - Custom Coaches '200' series
- 125 - Volvo B10BLE - Ansair 'Orana'
- 4 - Mercedes-Benz O405 - Custom Coaches '516'
- 300 - Mercedes-Benz O405NH - Custom Coaches 'Citaro'
- 170 - Volvo B12BLE - Custom Coaches CB60
- 50 - Volvo B12BLE - Volgren CR228L
- 80 - Volvo B12BLE Articulated - Custom Coaches CB60
- 250 - Volvo B12BLE Euro 5 - Custom Coaches CB60 Evo II (90 delivered as of the end of May 2008)
- 255 - Mercedes Benz O500LE CNG - Custom Coaches CB60 Evo II (first buses delivered June 2008)
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] 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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