McHarry's Buslines is a family-owned bus company in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, Victoria, dating back to 1932. It operates

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

bus routes in Geelong, and on the Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast, as well as

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to Student transport, transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter ...

and

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

services. The company's main depot is in Breakwater, and there are smaller depots in Apollo Bay, Torquay, Ocean Grove, Queenscliff and Drysdale. There used to be a depot in Portarlington, but it has been replaced by the one at Drysdale.

History

The origins of McHarry's Buslines date back to 1932, when John McHarry was employed at Ford's Geelong plant as a coach-builder. He transported his own employees to the plant in his truck, and it wasn't long before he was inundated with requests from other Ford workers for a ride to work. The current managing director of the company, also called John McHarry, is the grandson of the original owner. His son, Ashley McHarry, is the company's general manager.

Livery

Following the inauguration of the Geelong Transit System (GTS) in the early 1980s, McHarry's public transport buses were obliged to be painted in the GTS livery. After 2000, however, the company's contract with the Victoria State Government no longer required its GTS buses to wear the system livery, and so buses were progressively re-painted with McHarry's own new livery.

Fleet

As at June 2022, the company's fleet consisted of 225 buses.

References

{{Regional Victoria public transport, state=collapsed Bus companies of Victoria (state) Transport in Geelong Australian companies established in 1932 Transport companies established in 1932