Parent | Big Bus Tours |
---|---|
Founded | 23 November 1980 |
Headquarters | Banksmeadow |
Locale | Sydney |
Service type | Open top bus Hop-On, Hop-Off |
Routes | Sydney City & Bondi Beach routes |
Depots | 1 |
Fleet | 15 (October 2020) |
Website | https://www.bigbustours.com/en/sydney/sydney-bus-tours |
The Sydney Explorer was an Australian open top bus tourist sightseeing service operating in the Sydney central business district and Eastern Suburbs. Nowadays the company is owned by Big Bus Tours and trades as Big Bus Sydney. [1]
On 23 November 1980, the Urban Transit Authority commenced operating the Sydney Explorer looping the Sydney central business district. It was operated with Mercedes-Benz O305 and O405 buses that apart from being painted in red Sydney Explorer livery and having a public address system, were identical to those used in normal service. [2] In 1990, a fleet of six (later increased to eight) Pressed Metal Corporation bodied Mercedes-Benz O405 coaches were introduced.
In September 1998, the Bondi & Bay Explorer was introduced operating from Circular Quay to the Eastern Suburbs. It was operated by four Ansair bodied Scania L113CRLs painted in a blue livery. [3]
In November 2010, both services were sold to City Sightseeing who had been operating open top bus tours in Sydney since the early 2000s. [4] [5]
No buses were included in the sale, with City Sightseeing continuing to operate its existing routes only with its fleet of MCW Metrobuses. From May 2012 new Anhui Ankai buses were introduced on these routes. [6] Operations initially operated under the City Sightseeing brand, before the Big Bus Sydney name was introduced in 2016.
When Ensignbus sold the City Sightseeing business in 2011, it retained ownership of the Sydney operation. In 2016, Sydney Explorer relinquished its City Sightseeing franchise and became a Big Bus Tours affiliate. [7]
Big Bus Sydney offers 4 tickets:
- Discover: valid for 24hrs
- Essential: valid for 48hrs
- Explore: 48hr ticket + 24hr Fantasea Harbour Hopper cruise
Big Bus Sydney now stops at 34 different locations in the Sydney City and Bondi & Bays tours. Hop-On, Hop-Off City Tour
The Mercedes-Benz O305 was a single deck and articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz in Mannheim, West Germany from 1969 until 1988. It was built as either a complete bus or a bus chassis and was the Mercedes-Benz adaptation of the unified German VöV-Standard-Bus design, that was produced by some different bus manufacturers including Büssing, Magirus-Deutz, MAN, Ikarus, Gräf/Steyr, Heuliez, Renault, and Pegaso. The O305 was designed for use as a single-decker bus, however it was later redesigned to accommodate double-decker bodies.
Surfside Buslines was an Australian bus operator on the Gold Coast in Queensland. It operated 56 services under contract to the Government of Queensland under the Translink banner. It also operates nine services in the adjoining Tweed Valley of northern New South Wales under contract to the Government of New South Wales. As of 2022, Surfside Buslines has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic. Surfside Buslines has now been dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change.
Mercedes-Benz has been producing buses since 1895 in Mannheim in Germany. Since 1995 Mercedes-Benz buses and coaches is a brand of EvoBus GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck.
Cardiff Bus is the dominant operator of bus services in Cardiff, Wales and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. The company is wholly owned by Cardiff Council and is one of the few municipal bus companies to remain in council ownership.
Murrays Coaches is an Australian express and coach charter company.
The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for the provision of ferry services in Sydney until 2004 and bus and ferry services in Newcastle until 2017. It ceased trading after 2 April 2022 with its remaining operations to be contracted out by Transport for NSW to replacement operators.
National Bus Company was an Australian bus operator in Melbourne until August 2013. It also formerly operated buses in Brisbane between August 1997 and September 2004.
Driver Group is a bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Australia. In July 2013 the five bus routes it operated were sold to CDC Victoria and was rebranded CDC Melbourne afterwards.
Clipper Tours was an Australian coach operator in Sydney.
The Mercedes-Benz O405 was a single-decker bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s as either an integral bus or a bus chassis and was the last VöV SL-II standard bus in production. It was the replacement for the Mercedes-Benz O305 and was widely used in Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore with 12,000 produced.
Punchbowl Bus Company (PBC) is an Australian bus company. It operates bus services in Goulburn and Crookwell in the Southern Tablelands as PBC Goulburn and PBC Crookwell.
Lothian Buses Limited is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian Council 3% and West Lothian Council 1%.
Westbus was an Australian bus and coach operator that operated bus services in Western Sydney from 1955 until October 2013. Founded by the Bosnjak family, it later became a subsidiary of National Express and later ComfortDelGro Cabcharge.
The Urban Transit Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, was responsible for the operation and maintenance of buses and ferries in Sydney and Newcastle from July 1980 until January 1989.
Hillsbus was an Australian bus company that operated services in the Hills District of Sydney. Founded in 2004 when National Express merged its Glenorie Bus Company and Westbus subsidiaries, it was later part of ComfortDelGro Australia. In early 2023, the Hillsbus brand was replaced by ComfortDelGro's CDC NSW brand.
City Sightseeing is an open-top, sightseeing tour bus operator. It provides tour bus services in more than 130 cities around the world. As City Sightseeing has grown and expanded, the company now also provides boat tours, sightseeing train tours, and guided walking tours.
London Pride Sightseeing was an open top sightseeing bus operator in London.
Telfords Bus & Coach, formerly branded Telford's, was an Australian bus company operating charter services in Sydney. As of late 2022, Telfords Bus & Coach has changed its name as part of a business re-brand by the parent company, Kinetic. The company has now been dissolved into the Kinetic brand with its fleet of buses reflecting this change.
Carbridge is an Australian airport bus company operating services at Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airports.
Sydney bus route 400 was a limited stops bus service in Sydney, Australia operated by State Transit between Bondi Junction and Burwood until 2018. From 2018 to 2021, it operated a truncated route between Bondi Junction and International Airport only, until it was discontinued. In its original form it was Sydney's busiest bus route.