The NSW Government will competitively tender 13 of the 14 Sydney Metropolitan Bus Contracts between 2020 and 2022.
Among these 13 contracts, the NSW Government will be competitively tendering Bus Region Nine, that is currently operated by the State Transit Authority. Region Nine covers Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and CBD.
The new contracts will introduce additional bus services, provide innovative new service options, including a new fleet of zero emissions buses that will reduce air and noise pollution, and on-demand options.
Under the new contracts, the NSW Government will still own State Transit buses and assets such as depots. They will also retain the right to regulate timetables, safety, service priorities and set fares under the Opal system. Operators will be given some autonomy in the way they plan and run services.
Key Dates
| Oct 2019 | Project Announced |
| Nov 2020 | RFT Open |
| Apr 2021 | RFT Close |
| Apr 2022 | Region Nine expected to transition to new provider |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Oct 2019 | The NSW Government announced it will competitively tender 13 of the 14 Sydney metropolitan bus contracts over the coming three years. This follows the award of Bus Region Six in 2018 to Transit Systems. The NSW Government also announced it will be replacing Sydney's diesel bus fleet with electric vehicles. |
| Dec 2019 | An industry briefing detailed the procurement timeline for the contracts. 13 contracts are expected to be tendered over the next three years, with new contracts established by early 2023. |
| May 2020 | TfNSW announced that tendering for Region Seven would likely commence in August. TfNSW also made available Virtual Data Rooms for prospective tenderers for Regions Seven, Eight and Nine. These contain materials that will assist tenderers conducting their due diligence for bidding on the contracts and provide a forum for any queries or requests from bidders. |
| Aug 2020 | TfNSW confirmed Request for Tenders would be released in November 2020. New operators are now expected to commence services in April 2022. |
| Nov 2020 | The Request for Tender for Bus Contract Nine was released, closing on 30 April 2021. |
