Sydney’s bus network will be re-worked into a three-tier model over in the coming years, according to a plan released by the New South Wales Government this week.
Sydney’s Bus Future is a long-term plan for the city’s bus network.
Changes within the plan means over 1.5 million Sydneysiders will live within a ten minute walk of a bus stop where they can catch a turn up and go rapid or suburban service.
In the plan, Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian says buses are a key part of the Sydney’s public transport network.
“We are improving and creating new routes, simplifying timetables and making interchanges more convenient,” she says.
“We are planning and investing in our city’s buses for the future.”
The new three-tier model will include rapid, suburban and local service routes.
The rapid routes will be the “backbone” of the system and provide transport between areas not services by trains or light rail.
The suburban service routes and local service routes will build on this foundation to improve access to more local destinations.
The first stage of the implemented plan will introduce more bus services and see the completion of the Opal ticketing system by the end of 2014.
The second and third stages of the plan will see additional bus routes and infrastructure put in place.
“Sydney’s Bus Future is the NSW Government’s long term plan to redesign our city’s bus network to meet customer needs now and into the future,” says Berejiklian.
“As Sydney grows, the bus system needs to meet the challenges growth brings.”