Buses in Adelaide

Buses in Adelaide has been known under several names. The State Transport Authority (STA) combinined the metropolitan rail operations of the former South Australian Railways Commission, and the bus and tram operations of the former Municipal Tramways Trust in December 1975. In July 1994, the STA was abolished and government public transport services were transferred to TransAdelaide, a publicly owned corporation.[1]

In 1995–96, there was a partial tendering out of bus services. TransAdelaide retained three contract regions, Serco, in its first Australian bus operation, won two contract regions, and Hills Transit, a TransAdelaide company, won the Adelaide Hills operating contract.[2] Services were run and marketed under each operator's name, presenting a disjointed network to the public.

The 2000 round of tenders saw the end of TransAdelaide's (and therefore the Government's) direct operation of bus services in Adelaide, although it retained tram and rail services. Serco won the north–south, Outer North, and Outer North-East contract areas, Torrens Transit the east–west contract area and City Free services, Australian Transit Enterprises (ATE) trading as SouthLink the Outer South contract area, and Transitplus, a joint venture between ATE and TransAdelaide, the Hills Contract area.[2] At this time the Adelaide Metro brand was implemented across all transport operators,[3] appearing to the public as a unified network, with common livery, timetable designs and a city Information centre.

The Adelaide Metro bus fleet consists primarily of Scania L (4-series) (L94UB, L94UA) and K-series (K230UB, K280UB, K320UB, K320UA, K360UA) buses with various body styles from Custom Bus (CB60, CB60 Evo II, CB80) and BusTech (VST). There is also a significant number of older MAN buses of serval models and with several bodies. Smaller numbers of other buses also service the network. Contract operators also own some vehicles, with Torrens Transit/Transit Systems having a diverse fleet of buses transferred from other operations around Australia.

As of 2020, deliveries of Scania K320UB hybrid diesel-electric buses with BusTech VST bodies. In September 2022, the Minister for Transport announced that the final pure diesel bus have been delivered, and that all future deliveries would be hybrid diesel-electric or full electric.[4]

Adelaide Metro buses are split up geographically into six contract regions:

The new contracts, awarded in March 2020, began on 5 July 2020 for a period of eight years.

Former operators which had operated Adelaide Metro services in the past but no longer operate in Adelaide are:

• Light-City Buses - operated the north–south and Outer North East contract areas (including the 300 Suburban Connector and O-Bahn services) from 2011 until its purchase by Torrens Transit in 2018.[7][8]
• Transitplus - following the abolition of joint owner TransAdelaide in late 2010, Transitplus services were taken over by joint owner Australian Transit Enterprises's SouthLink.[9]
• Serco - Serco ended its contract in 2004, at the contracted half-term break-point.

Connecting various routes and services throughout the transport network in Adelaide are several bus interchanges. These play a critical role in allowing for transfers between bus routes and some furthermore onto trains and trams. Interchanges are located in critical localities on the network where various routes meet. Since 2021, Adelaide Metro has worked to improve the signage throughout these various interchanges, with new totem style signs being implemented in all critical locations.

The tendering out of bus operations has been a bumpy ride for Adelaide commuters. The original 1996 partial service tendering saw services run and marketed under each operator's name, presenting a disjointed network to the public. The Adelaide Metro brand was created in 2000 to restore a unified face to the public.[3]

Contract holder Serco withdrew in 2004, at the contracted half-term break-point, after failing to renegotiate its contract on better terms. Serco had previously informed the Minister for Transport that it was not willing to continue to operate the bus services for a further five years on the terms contained in the then existing Contract. Serco had made a submission to the Department of Transport and Urban Planning proposing to operate the bus services in the contract areas on new terms and conditions. This submission was rejected by the Department of Transport and Urban Planning. The company unsuccessfully rebid for the contract in the subsequent competition.[2] [23]

Light-City Buses was awarded two of Adelaide's six public bus contract regions commencing operation in October 2011, taking over the North South and Outer North East Contract Areas from Torrens Transit. These two contract regions cover 43% of the bus services in Adelaide,[6] valued at $567 million over the eight-year life of the contracts.[24] The contracts are in place for an initial eight-year term, from 2 October 2011 to 30 June 2019 with an option to extend for a further four years, subject to government approval.[6] Since the start of operations of bus services by Light-City Buses in October 2011 service interruptions and delays which were initially dismissed as teething problems have continued to frustrate commuters. [25][26] Transfield has claimed most of the problems have been resolved and they are working on resolving the rest, however in May 2012, Transport Services minister Chloë Fox imposed a fine of $121,000 for failing to meet Performance Benchmark Targets:[27]

• Transfield performed "significantly worse" than the other two companies operating contracted buses in Adelaide in reaching its contractual benchmarks.[28]
• The number of Transfield buses running on time from 1 January – 31 March 2012 ranged from as low as 51.6% on Transfield North South contract region to 66.9% on the Outer North East region. Transfield was fined $121,000 for late running buses services as a result.[28]
• In the 1 April – 30 June 2012 period Transfield, on-time running increased only marginally to 52.2% for the North South contract region and 71.3% for the Outer North East contract region. Transfield was fined $70,000 for its poor on-time running performance.[29]

Transfield have said that new timetables in July 2012 should help get buses running on time.

The negative experience following this latest change of operators reflects the advice given to the Government in 2009, when it was recommended that contracts should be extended by negotiation, rather than re-tendered.[30] The expert advice was based on:

• the efficiency of existing tender prices
• the incumbent operators' service quality performance
• the incumbent operators' entrepreneurship in regards to service development[31]

The expert advice stated that:

• there are significant risks in any transition from one operator to another, including public uncertainty and staff unrest,
• there would be difficulties inherent in 'unpicking' the then current network structure and timetables,
• any change in operators was likely to present considerable risks, such as reduced service quality, reduced patronage growth, and limited benefits.[31]

The South Australian Government went ahead with tenders in 2010. As noted above, the resultant change of operator from the incumbent Torrens Transit to Light-City Buses in the North South and Outer North East Contract Areas has seen many of the warnings given come to fruition.

Professor David Hensher, Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney, has commented that while three rounds of competitive tendering in Adelaide had ironed out the cost inefficiencies and lack of service incentives under the previous public monopoly model,

all the research on competitive tendering versus negotiated performance-based contracts is showing that one cannot squeeze any more out of the cost efficiency stone after three rounds and the risk of declines in service quality is real if this is pushed

— David Hensher, [32]

It is not just service performance which is suffering; Government data shows a steady increase in patronage over the first two complete rounds of competitive tendering, followed by a sharp drop-off in the past two years.[32]

• Transport in Adelaide
• List of public transport routes in Adelaide
• Transport in South Australia
• Transport in Australia
• List of bus companies

• Adelaide Metro
• Office of Public Transport