The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the
Government of New South Wales
The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...
operating bus services in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
. Superseding the
Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for the provision of
ferry services in Sydney until 2004 and
bus and ferry services in Newcastle until 2017. It ceased trading after 2 April 2022 with its remaining operations to be contracted out by
Transport for NSW
Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...
to replacement operators.
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
Department of Railways New South Wales to form the
Public Transport Commission
The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980.
Upon dissolution, responsib ...
.
In July 1980, the 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.
In January 1989, the restructured the Urban Transit Authority as the State Transit Authority, taking over the private bus service functions of the Department of Motor Transport. In October 1989, the
Chullora Bus Workshops
The Chullora Bus Workshops were the central workshops for the State Transit Authority and its predecessors, located on the north western corner of Roberts and Norfolk Roads Chullora.
History
Chullora Bus Workshops opened on 30 June 1958 as the ...
closed with a smaller facility established at
Randwick for mechanical repairs with body repairs contracted to the private sector. The remaining four
hydrofoils were replaced by three
JetCats and the MetroTen ticketing system introduced a few years before was replaced with the
Automated Fare Collection System
An automated fare collection (AFC) system is the collection of components that automate the ticketing system of a public transportation network - an automated version of manual fare collection. An AFC system is usually the basis for integrated tic ...
. The
Opal card ticketing system was rolled out from 2013.
In December 1999,
North & Western Bus Lines
North & Western Bus Lines was an Australian bus company operating route bus services and charter coaches in Sydney.
History
The origins of North & Western Bus Lines can be traced back to the late 1920s when Richard Smith formed Hunters Hill B ...
was purchased followed in February 2000 by
Parramatta-Ryde Bus Service
Parramatta-Ryde Bus Service was an Australian bus company operating route bus services and charter coaches in Sydney.
History
The origins of Parramatta-Ryde Bus Service can be traced back to 1896 when Alf Wigzell commenced a horse bus service a ...
.
In 2004, the STA's Sydney Ferries business was separated into a separate agency,
Sydney Ferries Corporation. In January 2005 most of former
routes were taken over from
Hillsbus, which were then returned to Hillsbus in September 2005 with the exception of routes 623, 624, 628 and 629. On 13 October 2013, the Western Sydney Buses route T80 was taken over by private operator
Transit Systems
Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group.
History
...
.
Bus services in Sydney were operated under the Sydney Buses brand until 2016, when rebranded as State Transit.
Until 30 June 2017, State Transit also operated services in
Newcastle and
Lake Macquarie
The City of Lake Macquarie is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent ...
through
Newcastle Buses & Ferries. These services are now operated by
Newcastle Transport.
[Keolis Downer awarded contract to run light rail, buses and ferries says Baird government]
''Newcastle Herald
The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...
'' 12 December 2016
In February 2018,
Transit Systems
Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group.
History
...
won the tender to take over State Transit's
Sydney Bus Region 6 from 1 July 2018, including
Burwood,
Kingsgrove
Kingsgrove is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Kingsgrove is south of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, Bayside Council and the Geo ...
,
Leichhardt and
Tempe depots and 600 buses. In October 2019, it was announced that State Transit's remaining three
bus regions are to be contracted out in early 2020. Region 8 was taken over by
Keolis Downer Northern Beaches in October 2021 with 410 buses operating out of
Brookvale,
Mona Vale and
North Sydney depots. Region 7 was taken over by
Busways
Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis ...
in January 2022.
Region 9 was taken over by
Transdev John Holland
Transdev John Holland Buses is a bus operator in Sydney, Australia. A joint venture between Transdev and John Holland, it operates services in Sydney Bus Region 9 in the Eastern Suburbs under contract to Transport for NSW. It is a separate compa ...
in April 2022.
Former units
The State Transit Authority also comprised three former business units.
Sydney Ferries
Sydney Ferries
Sydney Ferries is the public transport ferry network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales. Services operate on Sydney Harbour and the connecting Parramatta River. The network is controlled by the New South Wales Government's transport a ...
is the public transport authority for ferry services on
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...
in Sydney. It was established in 2004 as a government agency, separate of the State Transit Authority.
Western Sydney Buses
Formed in 2003, Western Sydney Buses operated route T80, a
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
service in
Western Sydney on the
Liverpool-Parramatta T-way. Passengers made 2.77 million journeys with Western Sydney Buses in the 2011/12 financial year. Western Sydney Buses operated out of a corner of
Westbus
Westbus was an Australian bus and coach operator that operated bus services in Western Sydney from 1955 until October 2013. Founded by the Bosnjak family, it later became a subsidiary of National Express and later ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (now ...
'
Bonnyrigg
Bonnyrigg ( sco, Bonnyrigg) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, eight miles (13 kilometres) southeast of Edinburgh city centre. The town had a population of 14,663 in the 2001 census which rose to 15,677 in the 2011 census, both figures based ...
depot.
[STA former fleet list]
''Australian Bus Fleet Lists''
In November 2012,
Transit Systems
Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group.
History
...
won the tender for
Sydney Bus Region 3 which included route T80 with the service and 22 buses transferring on 13 October 2013.
Newcastle Buses & Ferries
Newcastle Buses & Ferries was a bus and ferry service operator in
Newcastle and
Lake Macquarie
The City of Lake Macquarie is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent ...
. It operated 28 bus routes plus a
ferry service across the
Hunter River Hunter River may refer to:
*Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia
*Hunter River (Western Australia)
*Hunter River, New Zealand
*Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada
**Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada
...
between
Queens Wharf and
Stockton. The network radiated from a bus terminal near
Newcastle station. Major interchanges were located at the
University of Newcastle,
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...
,
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''.
It may refer to:
Places Australia
* Glendale, New South Wales
** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre
*Glendale, Queensland, ...
,
Warners Bay
Warners Bay is a suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia, and is located from Newcastle's central business district on the eastern side of Lake Macquarie. It was named after Jonathan Warner, who settled the area.
...
,
Belmont
Belmont may refer to:
People
* Belmont (surname)
Places
* Belmont Abbey (disambiguation)
* Belmont Historic District (disambiguation)
* Belmont Hotel (disambiguation)
* Belmont Park (disambiguation)
* Belmont Plantation (disambiguation)
* Belmon ...
,
Charlestown Square
Charlestown Square is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre in the suburb of Charlestown in the City of Lake Macquarie.
Transport
Charlestown Square has bus connections to City of Lake Macquarie suburbs and Newcastle suburbs, as well as loc ...
and
Westfield Kotara
Westfield Kotara (previously known as Kotara Fair and Garden City) is a large shopping centre in the suburb of Kotara in Newcastle.
Transport
Kotara station is 800 metres away from Westfield Kotara and is on the Main Northern railway line. T ...
.
Newcastle Buses & Ferries ceased trading on 30 June 2017, with
Newcastle Transport taking over.
[
]
Services
State Transit operated services in Sydney Metropolitan contract regions 6 to 9.
For school bus services, State Transit used 5/6/7xx series route numbers suffixed with E for East, N for North and W for West, while 89x routes were used for University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
services. Such university routes ceased as from Monday 21 December 2020, having been replaced by the CBD and South East Light Rail.
Fleet
State Transit inherited a fleet of 1,565 Leyland Leopards, Mercedes-Benz O305s, Mercedes-Benz O405s and MAN SL202
The MAN SL202 was a single-decker bus manufactured by MAN in Salzgitter, Germany between 1983 and 1993. It was also available as a chassis for external bodywork.
History
The MAN SL202 succeeded the MAN SL200 in 1983.
The SL202 came with a wide c ...
s from the Urban Transit Authority. New buses were primarily purchased from Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
, Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...
and Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
. The fleet peaked at 2,172 buses in June 2017 before privatisation commenced.
In the early 1990s, State Transit adopted a white and blue livery with a red stripe. This livery with minor variations was retained until 2010, when the Transport for NSW
Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...
white and blue livery was adopted. Buses dedicated to Metrobus services were painted in a red livery.
In 2017, State Transit purchased its first double-decker buses for use on B-Line services. These were painted in a yellow and blue livery.
Depots
Prior to privatisation, State Transit operated 14 depots.
*Northern Region
** North Sydney (N)
** Brookvale (V)
** Mona Vale (F)
*Western Region
** Willoughby (M)
** Ryde (Y)
*Eastern Region
** Randwick (R)
** Port Botany (P)
** Waverley (W)
*Southern Region
** Burwood (B)
** Leichhardt (L)
** Kingsgrove (K)
** Tempe (T)
*Newcastle Region
**Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
**Belmont
Belmont may refer to:
People
* Belmont (surname)
Places
* Belmont Abbey (disambiguation)
* Belmont Historic District (disambiguation)
* Belmont Hotel (disambiguation)
* Belmont Park (disambiguation)
* Belmont Plantation (disambiguation)
* Belmon ...
A fifteenth depot in Enfield closed in September 1989 being sold to the Maronite Church in 1993.[Enfield Depot sold ''Fleetline'' issue 214 May 1993 page 96]
References
External links
{{Commons category, Sydney Buses
State Transit Authority
– corporate information
Transport for NSW
– corporate information
Bus companies of New South Wales
Bus transport in Sydney
Ferry companies of New South Wales
Government agencies of New South Wales
Transport companies established in 1989
Transport companies disestablished in 2022
Transport in New South Wales
1989 establishments in Australia
2022 disestablishments in Australia