SYDNEY BUS ROUTES Brief histories from 1925 to the present of the routes and operators of private bus services in the metropolitan area of Sydney, NSW, Australia Regional reviews by Ministry of Transport – 2006-2010 A work in progress. Corrections and comments welcome – [email protected] This series of lists sets out to show the extent of changes made to private bus routes in each metropolitan bus contract region when the Ministry of Transport (now Transport for New South Wales) conducted its reviews during the period 2006-2010. Background to the regional reviews As a result of an enquiry undertaken in 2003 by Barrie Unsworth, a former transport minister and premier, the Passenger Transport Act was revised in 2004 in such a way as to: Provide for Government funding of private bus services in NSW; Reduce the number of metropolitan bus contract regions from 87 to 15, each covering a larger area, enabling many bus routes to be extended so that they serve greater numbers of patronage generators; Give authority to the Government, through the Ministry of Transport (MoT), to coordinate bus routes and timetables with operators in each region. Some of the outcomes of these changes to the Act have been: The number of bus operators has been reduced to between one and four per region. Where there was initially more than one operator, some form of “lead operator” was assigned to each region (these “lead operators” not recorded in this website). A major review was conducted in each new region and its results put into effect between 2006 and 2010 (the fact that a route has been changed as a result of such a review is noted in the Route Histories). Subsequently regular reviews are made of bus routes and timetables following such reviews. Because of the larger area of each new region, many bus routes have been lengthened, as routes in one (old) region were either rearranged or amalgamated with those in an adjacent one; Memory headways have been included in almost all bus timetables, so making many timetables more user-friendly. The new metropolitan regions and their approximate geographic coverage are: Page 1 of 24 10 June 2016 Regional reviews Region General area of Sydney Principal suburbs Route number range number 1 Outer west between Blacktown, Blacktown, Penrith, Richmond ,Windsor 661-682, 718-799, Penrith, Windsor & Richmond S11-13, T70-75 2 South west between Liverpool, Bringelly, Glenfield, Hoxton Park 850-876 Ingleburn & Hoxton Park Ingleburn, Liverpool, 3 South west between Parramatta, Bonnyrigg, Cabramatta, Fairfield, 801-823, S10 Liverpool & Bonnyrigg Liverpool, Wetherill Park 4 Hills District: Parramatta- Blacktown, Castle Hill, Dural, Parramatta, 600-654, 700-715, S8, Pennant Hills-Castle Hill-Rouse Rouse Hill T61-66 Hill 5 South west between Strathfield, Lakemba, Punchbowl, Roselands, 446-450, 939-955, S14 Bankstown & Hurstville Mortdale 6 Inner west Ashfield, Burwood, Campsie, Leichhardt, Rockdale, Sydney Olympic Park 7 Inner north west Chatswood, Epping, Macquarie Park, State Transit Authority North Sydney, Parramatta, Ryde routes – outside the 8 Lower North Shore & Northern Brookvale, Manly, Mosman, North scope of this website Beaches Sydney, Palm Beach 9 Eastern Suburbs Bondi Junction, Botany, Maroubra, Mascot, Randwick, Surry Hills 10 South west between Bankstown, Bankstown, Hurstville, Menai, Miranda 948, 959-976, 991-996 Sutherland & Engadine 11 Miranda-Cronulla & Bundeena Bundeena, Caringbah, Cronulla, Kurnell, 977-989 Miranda 12 Upper North Shore & Hornsby- Chatswood, Gordon, Hornsby, Berowra, 556-599 Hawkesbury River Brooklyn 13 South west between Lidcombe, Bankstown, Burwood, Liverpool, 900-927, S1-4 Granville, Bankstown & Parramatta Liverpool 14 Forest area: Chatswood-Frenchs Chatswood, Belrose, Frenchs Forest, St 194-7, 270, 276-285 Forest-Terrey Hills-St Ives- Ives, Terrey Hills Gordon 15 South west between Camden, Campbelltown, Narellan 878-899, Camden Campbelltown, Camden & Country 31, 32, 38-40, beyond 47, 49 Page 2 of 24 10 June 2016 Regional reviews Regions 6 to 9 contain exclusively State Transit Authority routes, and the remaining regions privately operated routes. Since the regions were devised, at the time the route network of Region 11 was reviewed, two of its routes amalgamated with others in Region 10 as from 21 September 2009, from which date Regions 10 and 11 have also been amalgamated. Route numbers in most regions have remained relatively unaltered in the transition from the older contract areas to the newer areas. However, because changes to routes in Regions 3 and 13 were more widespread than others, some wholesale renumbering of routes occurred. How the reviews were conducted In each region, the respective operator/s and the Ministry of Transport issued a proposal document with a map showing the proposed routes, together with a suburb-by-suburb description of the proposed bus route changes. Residents were then asked to comment on the changes (“community consultation”). Comments were considered and the review changes subsequently implemented. Although the routes along the North-West (Parramatta-Rouse Hill) Transitway (T-way) do not constitute a region by themselves (they are in fact part of Regions 1 & 4), a process similar to a regional review was undertaken prior to the opening of the T-way on 11 March 2007, because significant route changes occurred at the time. The relevant routes and changes are listed at the end of the numbered regions below. Some of the points made in the proposal documents were: Why are we reviewing the bus network? A part of our new contract with the NSW Government includes the need to carry out a major review of bus services within the first three years of our contract. This review came out of the recommendations of the NSW Government's Review of Bus Services, known as the Unsworth Review or Bus Reform. The review of bus services is critical to ensure local people are connected with local places and with other bus routes or modes of transport. It is also important that we straighten bus routes and make fast, frequent and direct bus services. How do we design bus services? We are dedicated public transport providers and we design our services so they are affordable, easy-to-use and convenient. The design of bus services takes into account many considerations. Our main challenge is to balance the needs of our many and varied customer groups. We carefully review travel patterns, emerging trends, information on journeys to work and land use developments so we have a clear picture of what's happening within the area we provide services. This is critical to ensure we can build customer numbers and strengthen our bus network. We then consider customer feedback to ensure we do not miss critical local links. We use the NSW Government's Service Planning Guidelines, which includes an international standard for access to bus routes. Our aim is to ensure nearly all of our bus services operate within 400 metres of residents between 6.00am and 6.30pm from Monday to Saturday. On evenings and on Sundays, we aim for 800 metres. Chronological order of review effective dates 28 May 2006 Region 10 18 September 2006 Region 13 11 March 2007 North-West (Parramatta-Rouse Hill) T-way routes 18 August 2008 Regions 2 & 15 24 November 2008 Region 14 Page 3 of 24 10 June 2016 Regional reviews 23 March 2009 Region 12 11 May 2009 Region 4 21 September 2009 Region 11 11 October 2009 Region 1 22 March 2010 Regions 3 & 5 Region 1 OUTER WEST between BLACKTOWN, PENRITH, WINDSOR & RICHMOND Review effective 11 October 2009 Routes immediately prior to the review Route Destinations Operator/s Number 661 Windsor – McGraths Hill – Riverstone Hawkesbury Vly Bus Service 662 Riverstone – Maraylya Hawkesbury Vly Bus Service 663 Windsor – Pitt Town – Wisemans Ferry Hawkesbury Vly Bus Service 664 Windsor – Maraylya Hawkesbury Vly Bus Service 668 Windsor – Wilberforce – Glossodia Westbus 669 Windsor – Wilberforce – Sackville Westbus 673 Penrith – Llandilo – Windsor Westbus 674 Windsor – Berkshire Park Westbus 675 Windsor – Bligh Park Westbus 676 Windsor – South Windsor (Berger Rd loop) Westbus 677 Richmond – Londonderry – Penrith Westbus 678 Richmond – Castlereagh – Penrith Westbus 679 Richmond – UWS (Hawkesbury Campus) Westbus 680 Windsor – Richmond – Bowen Mountain Westbus Windsor – Richmond – Kurrajong (selected trips extended to Berambing) 682 Richmond – Glossodia Westbus 718 Seven Hills – Kings Langley Busways Blacktown 721 Blacktown – Blacktown Hospital Busways Blacktown 722 Blacktown – Prospect Busways Blacktown 724 Blacktown – Arndell Park – Huntingwood Busways Blacktown 725 Blacktown – Douglas Rd, Doonside Busways Blacktown 726 Blacktown – Doonside via Monash Rd Busways Blacktown 727 Blacktown – Tallawong Av, Blacktown Busways Blacktown 737 Mt Druitt – Rooty Hill – Eastern Creek Busways Blacktown 738 Mt Druitt – Rooty Hill – Eastern Creek industrial park (selected Busways Blacktown trips to extended Horsley Park) 739 Mt Druitt – Minchinbury Busways Blacktown 739V Mt Druitt – Mt Druitt Village Busways Blacktown 742 Riverstone – Rouse Hill Busways Blacktown 743 Blacktown – Kings Langley Busways Blacktown 744 Blacktown – Bessemer St industrial area 745 Plumpton – Castle Hill Busways Blacktown 746 Riverstone – Box Hill Busways Blacktown 750 Plumpton – Macquarie Centre Busways Blacktown 751 Blacktown – Quakers Hill (clockwise loop in East Quakers Hill) Busways Blacktown 752 Blacktown – Quakers Hill (anticlockwise loop in East Quakers Busways Blacktown Hill) 753 Blacktown – Doonside via Hillend