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New report calls out Transport for NSW for not effectively managing bus contracts

Auditor-general calls out Transport for NSW for “not effectively managing bus contracts” in highly critical report
transport for nsw

A new report released by NSW Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji has called out Transport for NSW for not effectively managing multibillion-dollar bus contracts in Sydney.

The report outlines that private operators of Sydney’s bus services are regularly failing to meet on-time running targets and are not adequately dealing with complaints.

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Oyetunji found that bus operators were below a target of 95 per cent on-time running (OTR) most of the time between January 2023 and May last year. In the 17-month period, bus operators met or beat the target in only 15 per cent of instances.

“TfNSW has worked with individual operators to try to improve OTR at all of the timing points and has levied abatements (penalty payments resulting from an operator’s failure to meet contractually specified performance levels) where appropriate. However, OTR across the GSBC regions is below target in most months since the contracts began,” the report reads.

The rate of cancelled and incomplete bus trips did improve since early 2023, yet some operators never met performance targets during the 17 months. The target is for no more than 0.5 per cent of services to be cancelled or fail to finish their trips each month.

The audit found a clear link between the percentage of cancelled and incomplete trips and the bus driver shortage ‒ as the number of driver vacancies drops, so does the number of cancelled and incomplete trips.

The number of customer complaints in May last year was about double that in April 2022 – almost 29 complaints per 100,000 boardings compared to more than 14.

The report was critical of TfNSW’s handling of customer complaints, noting that the agency has not conducted systematic analysis of the topics of customer complaints. Some of the most popular complaints were buses missing scheduled stops and arriving late or trips not operating.

“TfNSW is not effectively managing bus contracts to ensure that operators are meeting contractual performance obligations and customer needs,” the report concludes.

“TfNSW has not responded strategically to ensure bus contracts are delivering effective services in the context of an evolving transport system and changes in work and travel patterns.

“There are gaps in TfNSW’s contract management specific procedures and delegations. These gaps mean that the risks of inappropriate exercise of delegations, non-compliance with contractual requirements and/or inappropriate use of public funds are not fully addressed.”

The auditor-general recommends that by June 2025, TfNSW should increase the strategic contract management capacity of the bus contracts team to address the gaps identified  and commensurate with the value and complexity of the Greater Sydney Bus Contracts which are worth approximately $8 billion in total.

The agency was also urged to review and address gaps in contract management specific procedures and delegations to ensure clarity in the current framework, and to avoid the risk of inconsistent and inappropriate decision-making and establish and start a process of regular auditing of the efficacy of operator responses to customer complaints.

By December 2025, the audit recommends that TfNSW should implement strategic planning, including enhanced data analysis, to address ongoing and emerging issues that may have an impact on bus performance across all GSBC regions, and to improve bus operator performance.

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