Contracts are issued by the Government of New South Wales to metropolitan bus operators in Sydney, Australia, to operate its public bus route network. Since 2005, the government has moved from individual contracts with operators to larger contract regions, leading to the consolidation of bus operators.
History
In February 2004, the Unsworth Review of Bus Services conducted by former transport minister and former premier Barrie Unsworth, reported its findings to the Carr government, recommending that the number of contract areas that existed in Sydney be reduced from 87 to 15 with a lead entity identified for each region to negotiate a contract.Passenger Transport Amendment (Bus Reform Bill) Government of New South Wales 2 June 2004 This was adopted with the first seven-year performance based contract signed in January 2005. By June 2005, eight had been signed.Annual Report for year ended 30 June 2005 Ministry of Transport pages 5–6 In some cases the existing operators formed joint venture companies to have a single contract with the government while in other regions there were some takeovers.
The contracts resulted in some consolidation of operators. Harris Park Transport and Moores Tours decided to cease operating at short notice in December 2004.Important Notice Harris Park Transport Some of Baxter's Bus Lines routes passed to Connex and Transit First in January 2005.Changes to Area 13 Route Services Baxter's Bus Lines February 2005 Further consolidation took place after the contracts commenced with Baxter's selling its remaining routes to Westbus in September 2006, Transit First selling out to Connex in February 2007.Purchase of Baxter's Bus Lines Routes by ComfrtDelGro Cabcharge Baxter's Bus Lines 26 July 2006Veolia to expand Sydney bus services Sydney Morning Herald 9 January 2007 Veolia (formerly Connex), who operated in regions 10 and 13, took over region 11 operators Crowthers in January 2009 and Caringbah Bus Service in October 2011.Veolia buys Crowthers Buslink Australasian Bus & Coach 5 January 2009Sutherland Covered Australasian Bus & Coach 26 September 2011 The two takeovers resulted in the merger of regions 10 and 11 to form an expanded region 10, reducing the total number of regions to fourteen.
With the contracts coming up for renewal and following a change in government, the O'Farrell Government decided to put the provision of the services out to competitive tender.Cut costs or bus contracts will go to private sector, minister tells drivers Sydney Morning Herald 7 November 2012Tender shock rocks Sydney Australasian Bus & Coach 7 November 2012Tenders open soon for Sydney bus services Transport NSW 25 February 2013 Transdev NSW was able to negotiate a direct award for regions 10 and 13 after agreeing to provide access to its bus and depot assets at the end of the contracts.Special treatment for Sydney contracts Australasian Bus & Coach 16 January 2013 The regions operated by State Transit were not included at this stage, however region 6 was tendered out from July 2018.Transit Systems secures Region 6 Australasian Bus & Coach 13 February 2018
Under the 2005 contracts, all new buses were purchased by the government and leased to the operators. As a result, when regions have changed hands, all of the post 2005 built buses have remained with the region, with the older buses retained by the outgoing operators.
2020–2023 tenders With the exception of region 6, the government announced in October 2019 that the contracts for the other thirteen regions will be put out to competitive tender by 2022. These contracts were originally due to expire in 2021 and 2022.
The first three regions to be put out to tender were the three remaining State Transit regions 7 to 9. Tenders for Region 8 opened in June 2020 and closed on 30 September 2020, with Keolis Downer announced as the successful tenderer in May 2021. Tenders for Region 7 opened in August 2020 and closed on 18 December 2020, with Busways announced as the successful tenderer in July 2021. Tenders for Region 9 opened in November 2020, with a joint venture of Transdev and John Holland announced as the successful tenderer in November 2021. The three regions were transitioned to the new operators on these following dates: Region 7 (North West) in January 2022 Region 8 (Northern Beaches) in October 2021 Region 9 (East) in April 2022
Between December 2021 and August 2022, the remaining ten regions were put out to tender in three tranches: Tranche 1: Regions 4, 12 and 14. Contracts for Regions 12 and 14 can be consolidated in a single bid. Tenders opened in January 2022 and closed on 14 April 2022. In November 2022, CDC NSW, the incumbent operator for Regions 4 and 14, was awarded the contracts for the three regions, with region 12 to be consolidated into Region 14. Tranche 2: Regions 3, 5, 10 and 13. Any combination of the four contracts can be consolidated in a single bid. Tenders opened between March and May 2022. In December 2022, Transit Systems NSW, the incumbent operator for Region 3, was awarded the contracts for Regions 3 and 13, with region 13 to be consolidated into Region 3. The contracts for Regions 5 and 10, with region 5 consolidated into region 10, were awarded to U-Go Mobility, a new joint venture between UGL and Go-Ahead Group. Tranche 3: Regions 1, 2 and 15. Tenders opened between June and August 2022. In February 2023, Busways, the incumbent operator for Region 1, was awarded the contract for the region, while Transit Systems was awarded the contracts for Regions 2 and 15, with Region 15 to be consolidated into Region 2.
The new contracts of the ten regions commenced between April and December 2023.
Livery A requirement of the contracts is that operators adopt a white and two blues livery as prescribed by Transport for NSW, this was implemented from 2010. Forest Coach Lines' 2005 contract did not require their buses to be repainted blue, hence the livery applied to their buses saw the blue replaced with green. This loophole was closed when the region was tendered in 2012.Blue over green Forest Coach Lines buses Manly Daily 11 January 2013
Current contracts
Since October 2023, there are 10 contract regions in Sydney, each of which is tied to a geographical area. Current contracts commenced prior to 2018 operate for five years, with an option to extend for a further three years. Contracts commenced and awarded since 2018 are for an eight-year period. All of these contracts were awarded via open tender.
Region Service area Current operators Start date ofcurrent contract End date ofcurrent contract (if known) 1 Blacktown LGA, Penrith LGA Busways 10 December 2023 28 June 2031 2 Campbelltown LGA, Liverpool LGA, Camden LGA Transit Systems 8 October 2023 28 June 2031 3 Liverpool LGA, Fairfield LGA, Cumberland LGA, Canterbury-Bankstown LGA Transit Systems 6 August 2023 30 November 2030 4 Hills District CDC NSW April 2023 28 June 2031 6 Inner West Transit Systems 1 July 2018 30 June 2026 7 Northern Suburbs Busways 9 January 2022 9 January 2030 8 Northern Beaches Keolis Downer Northern Beaches 31 October 2021 31 October 2029 9 Eastern Suburbs Transdev John Holland 3 April 2022 2 April 2030 10 Sutherland Shire, Georges River LGA, Canterbury-Bankstown LGA U-Go MobilityMaianbar Bundeena Bus Service (route 989) 1 July 2023 30 November 2028 14 Ku-ring-gai LGA, Northern Beaches CDC NSW 21 May 2023 29 June 2030
Region details
Region 1 Region 1 covers the outer western suburbs between Blacktown, Penrith, Windsor and Richmond. It also operated route 740 services via the M2 Hills Motorway to Macquarie Centre, which ceased in May 2019.Regional reviews by Ministry of Transport Sydney Bus RoutesRegion 1 Transport NSW
When the region was established in 2005, services were operated by the Area 1 Management Company consortium of incumbent operators Busways, Hawkesbury Valley Buses and Westbus. Following a competitive tendering process, on 6 October 2013 Busways took over all services in the region in its own right.Busways wins 300 bus contract in Western Sydney Busways 7 November 2012Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Contract – SMBCS01 NSW eTendering In February 2023, following another competitive tendering process, Busways successfully retained and was awarded a seven-year contract for Region 1. The contract will commence in December 2023. Region 1 routesRouteDescription545Macquarie Park to Parramatta via Eastwood and Telopea668Richmond to Windsor via Glossodia and Wilberforce669Wilberforce to Sackville via Ebenezer671Riverstone to Windsor via McGraths Hill and Vineyard672Windsor to Wisemans Ferry (Loop Service)673Penrith to Windsor via Cranebrook674Mount Druitt to Windsor via Shanes Park and Bligh Park675AWindsor to Richmond via RAAF Base and Bligh Park (Loop Service)675CWindsor to Richmond via Bligh Park and RAAF Base (Loop Service)676Windsor to South Windsor (Loop Service)677Penrith to Richmond via Londonderry678Penrith to Richmond via Cranebrook679Windsor to Maraylya via McGraths Hill680Richmond to Bowen Mountain via Grose Vale and Grose Wold (Loop Service)682Richmond to Kurrajong via Berambing (Loop Service)718Seven Hills to Kings Langley721Blacktown to Blacktown Hospital (Loop Service)722Blacktown to Prospect via Flushcombe Rd (Loop Service)723Blacktown to Mount Druitt via Eastern Creek724Blacktown to Arndell Park via Huntingwood (Loop Service)726Blacktown to Doonside via Monash Rd (Loop Service)728Blacktown to Mount Druitt729Blacktown to Mount Druitt via Minchinbury730Blacktown to Castle Hill via Glenwood and Norwest731Blacktown to Rouse Hill Station via Stanhope Gardens732Blacktown to Rouse Hill Station via The Ponds734Blacktown to Riverstone via Schofields735Rouse Hill to Blacktown (Loop Service)738Mount Druitt to Eastern Creek via Rooty Hill (Loop Service)739VMount Druitt to Mount Druitt South (Loop Service)740Rouse Hill to Gables741Riverstone to Oakville via Box Hill and Maraylya742Rouse Hill Station to Marsden Park743Blacktown to Kings Langley744Blacktown to Blacktown Industrial Area745St Marys to Norwest Private Hospital via Stanhope Gardens746Rouse Hill to Riverstone747Rouse Hill Station to Mount Druitt via Riverstone and Marsden Park748Tallawong Station to Melonba via Schofields750Blacktown to Mount Druitt via Bidwill751Blacktown to Melonba via Colebee752Blacktown to Rouse Hill Station via Quakers Hill753Blacktown to Doonside (Loop Service)754Mount Druitt to Blacktown via Hassall Grove (Loop Service)755Mount Druitt to Shalvey and Plumpton Marketplace756Blacktown to Mount Druitt via Woodcroft and Plumpton758St Marys to Mount Druitt via Tregear and Shalvey759St Marys to Mount Druitt via Ropes Crossing761Mount Druitt to Bidwill (Loop Service)770Penrith to Mount Druitt via St Marys771Mount Druitt to St Marys via Colyton772WSI Airport to Mount Druitt via St Clair774Penrith to Mount Druitt via Nepean Hospital775Penrith to Mount Druitt via Erskine Park776Penrith to Mount Druitt via St Clair779Kemps Creek to St Marys via Erskine Park780Mount Druitt to Penrith via Ropes Crossing781Penrith to St Marys via Glenmore Park782Penrith to St Marys via Werrington783Penrith to Werrington via Jordan Springs784Penrith to Cranebrook (Loop Service)785Werrington to Penrith via Cambridge Park786Penrith to Cranebrook via North Penrith (Loop Service)789Penrith to Luddenham790WSI Airport to Penrith via Kingswood791Penrith to Jamisontown via South Penrith (Loop Service)793Penrith to South Penrith (Loop Service)794Penrith to Glenmore Park via The Northern Rd795Warragamba to Penrith797Penrith to Glenmore Park (Loop Service)799Penrith to Glenmore Park via RegentvilleS11St Marys to St Clair (Loop Service)S13Penrith to Mountainview Retreat Retirement Village (Loop Service)S7Blacktown to Myrtle Glen Stanhope Gardens
Region 2 Region 2 initially covered the south western suburbs between Liverpool, Ingleburn and Hoxton Park. Other principal suburbs are Bringelly and Glenfield.Region 2 Transport NSW