A trial of three on-demand buses in the Illawarra has been extended until the end of the year – despite low usage in one of the areas.
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In January the NSW government kicked off the six-month trials in Shellharbour, Figtree and Thirroul.
Each service uses a fleet of three Toyota HiAce vehicles and is run by the Premier Illawarra bus company.
The on-demand trial allows people to book a pick-up via an app from their door to train stations or bus interchanges in their area between 5.30am and 9pm.
The on-demand trial saw 8885 passenger trips between January and June this year.
More than half of those – 58 per cent – came from Shellharbour.
Thirroul was the second in line with 2361 trips – or 26 per cent while Figtree residents were the least interested in the new service.
The bus service in that area accounted for just 14 per cent – 1305 – of all on-demand trips in the Illawarra.
These figures resemble those from the first month of the trial, where Shellharbour was responsible for the bulk of the trips while Figtree lagged behind on 10 per cent.
The overall six-month trip figure of 8885 was evidentally high enough to justify an extension of the trial through to the end of the year.
A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said there had been 11 on-demand trials across the state, with more than 80,000 passenger trips made.
She said the aim of the pilot program was to trial different service options to “provide greater flexibility and mobility for customers”.
Statewide, the feedback from the trials had been positive, the spokeswoman said.
“Customer satisfaction survey results also tell us customers who use the services value them and believe they provide a better alternative to other transport options available to them,” the Transport for NSW spokeswoman said.
“Importantly, Transport for NSW is obtaining a significant and new data set from the pilot program including where and when people actually want to travel.
“We’ll continue to monitor all pilots closely to find out if further changes need to be made and we’ll continue to work with operators to implement new delivery models and provide improvements.”
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
