Transport for NSW has announced that it will establish a permanent new On Demand service for Moree, in northern NSW, as trials have been proving successful.
The government says that it will release a Request for Proposals (RFP) soon, calling for operators to submit value for money proposals for the transport solution.
A spokesperson said the On Demand Public Transport trial was popular among the Moree community, with both residents and visitors jumping aboard.
“Customers have embraced the On Demand trial in Moree and this is great news for the community that a service will be established to provide greater flexibility and mobility for customers on an ongoing basis.” A TfNSW spokesperson said.
“More than 33,000 passenger trips have been delivered since we launched the trial, with around 5,000 customers using the service per month.”
Since launching in November 2018, the Moree On Demand trials have been subject to two extensions, enabling the pilot to run through until early 2020.
“We’re now looking for a transport operator to lead the implementation of a new ongoing On Demand service to provide reliable, more economic choice for customers to providing residents with access to key health, retail, educational and social services.”
In 2016 the NSW government, since then re-elected, announced that it was looking to replace timetables with a public transport system which responds to the demand of commuters in real time.
State transport and infrastructure minister Andrew Constance then announced a trial of services that arrive when and where commuters want them.
“Imagine a NSW where you don’t need to check the timetable because the right numbers of trains, buses or ferries arrive when and where they need to. This future is not far off if we are quick off the mark today.”
“I want to see the end of timetables, and a network that can cut down on travel delays by automatically putting on extra trains in wet weather or extra buses from a footy team’s home suburbs to away games,” the minister said.
Trials of the services have been conducting throughout Sydney CBD, and are now branching out into more regional parts of NSW.