The 2019-2020 Budget provided $63.2 million for general access bus services.
The Bus Services Review project aimed to
The Review developed the new network using a set of principles for
It also used
The improved network aims to provide better services by:
The Review took a balanced approach to service coverage. It aimed to provide equitable services, and take different community needs into account.
Areas with the most need and patronage receive more services. These include central business districts, highly populated residential areas, and low income areas.
It is easier to understand timetables and use buses when services are regular and predictable.
The Review designed services to be as consistent as possible. Where patronage and funding allow, services operate at regular intervals across the day, and the same time each day of the week.
Simple and direct
Routes follow a direct path, avoiding long loops. This makes travel times quicker, but might mean some people have to walk further to get to the bus.
The Review aimed to avoid duplication between routes or have routes too close together.
The Review aimed to link smaller areas to the nearest major centre. These centres include Burnie, Devonport, Launceston, Hobart, Glenorchy, Rosny Park and Kingston.
At these centres, passengers may need to change services to travel further, especially outside peak times. The Review aimed to connect services to make this easier and finish a trip in a reasonable time.
New bus networks started one at a time:
For more information on these networks visit the Recent changes page.
The Department developed General Access Service Standards (PDF 1.1 MB) to describe different service levels based on community need and demand.
These standards contain tables based on a hierarchy as follows:
The Department developed a model to help inform possible network changes.
The model is the State-Wide Iterative Service Standards (SWISS).
It allocates services to areas based on the transport needs of both that community and similar communities.
SWISS assesses transport needs by using socio-economic data including:
Services need to attract enough passengers to remain sustainable. An important part of determining the correct service level is considering current patronage.
More people use buses at peak weekday morning and afternoon travel times. Fewer people use buses at other times, including evenings and weekends.
The Review aimed to match service level to current or likely future patronage. In most cases, areas with higher numbers of people will receive more bus services than areas with lower populations.
The Tasmanian Government has contracted Area Connect to provide regional services to remote communities with relatively small populations that can’t justify having a daily bus service because very few adults use the service.
The towns serviced have a population of less than 500 (except Queenstown) which generally means they cannot sustain daily commuter bus services and are more suited to smaller vehicle transport options that can be operated with more flexibility to match the needs of those in the community.
Area Connect services are designed to connect with existing services to enhance the effectiveness of public transport.
The services provided by Area Connect are:
Services do not operate on public holidays.
More information on these services is available on the Area Connect website.
The Review improved timetables by grouping services by area instead of operator. This allows passengers to see all available services.
It is part of the plan to make travelling on bus services across the state simpler and more convenient. As part of this, the government is exploring ways for all bus operators to use the same ticketing system. This will mean passengers can use the same payment method with all bus operators.
Please contact the Passenger Transport Branch by email at ptscontracts@stategrowth.tas.gov.au or by phone on (03) 6166 3343 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm).