 | |
 Volgren-bodied Scania K310UB in PTV livery, April 2022 | |
| Parent | CDC Victoria |
|---|---|
| Service area | Geelong |
| Service type | Bus operator |
| Routes | 10 |
| Fleet | 70 (November 2023) [1] |
| Website | www.cdcvictoria.com.au/cdcgeelong |
CDC Geelong, formerly known as Benders Busways, is a bus company operating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, operating routes as well as charters. It is a subsidiary of CDC Victoria, in turn a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia, in turn a subsidiary of Singapore-based ComfortDelGro.
Benders Busways was formed by Ernest and Aimee Bender in 1926, and was established for 75 years. Their son Norman Bender eventually took over the business. [2]
The first route ran from Geelong to Chilwell, and in 1931 a second route commenced from the Geelong Post Office to the corner of Minerva Road and Aberdeen Street in Geelong West.
The closure of the Geelong tram system in 1956 saw Benders win the contract to serve the former tram routes with buses. Eighteen new buses were purchased to run the increased number of services.
In 1987, Benders purchased IJ Cook & Son. In June 2000 the Bender family sold Benders Busways to the Kefford Corporation. [3] In February 2009 the Kefford Corporation was sold to ComfortDelGro Cabcharge (CDC), with the sale including Benders Busways for A$149 million. [4] [5] At the time Kefford was the fourth-largest bus operator in Victoria, with a fleet of 328 buses and six depots, and with a market share of 16%. On 14 July 2014, CDC announced that Benders Busways would be re-branded as CDC Geelong. [6]
On 1 July 2022, CDC Geelong's Regional Bus Services Contract to operate bus services was renewed for 10 years. [7] It would also be subject to new performance measures and service standards, consistent with the bus services in Melbourne. [8]
When the Geelong Transit System (GTS) was first introduced in 1983, [9] buses operated by Benders on route services were painted in the blue stripe and white GTS livery. However the contract with the state government requiring Benders to use the GTS livery on its urban route buses expired in 2000, and under the subsequent contract the company's buses all reverted to Benders' former white and green livery.
In August 2014, CDC Victoria announced that it had started to use the recently-introduced Public Transport Victoria orange and white livery on its buses, replacing the former Benders livery, [10] and CDC Geelong buses providing public transport services were progressively repainted. An orange, blue and white livery was adopted for charter buses.
As at November 2023, the CDC Geelong fleet consisted of 70 buses and coaches. [1]
ComfortDelGro Corporation is a multi-national land transport company listed on the Singapore Exchange, operating about 35,000 vehicles in seven countries. It was formed on 29 March 2003 through a merger of Singapore-based land transport companies Comfort Group and DelGro Corporation.
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.
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CDC Victoria is a transport company which operates in Victoria and is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. It was renamed from Kefford Corporation, which was acquired by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge in February 2009.
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ComfortDelGro Australia is a major Australian public transport company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-listed company ComfortDelGro. Founded in October 2005 as ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, a joint venture between ComfortDelGro (51%) and Australian-listed Cabcharge (49%), it became fully owned by ComfortDelGro in 2017. It operates public transport, taxi and patient transport services nationwide across Australia, except in the states of Tasmania and South Australia.
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The Geelong Transit System (GTS) was the operating brand of public transport in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It was a joint venture between the Kefford Corporation's Benders Busways, and McHarry's Buslines. From 2009, timetables and signage were branded as Geelong Transit with a standard Viclink orange theme, so it is unclear to what extent the former GTS entity still exists as such. Since 2009, GTS ticketing has become part of the statewide myki smartcard system.
McHarry's Buslines is a family-owned bus company in Geelong, Victoria, dating back to 1932. It operates public transport bus routes in Geelong, and on the Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast, as well as school bus and charter services. The company's main depot is in Breakwater, and there are smaller depots in Apollo Bay, Torquay, Ocean Grove, Queenscliff and Drysdale. There used to be a depot in Portarlington, but it has been replaced by the one at Drysdale.
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Sydney, Australia is served by a number of bus operators, with Busways the largest privately owned operator in New South Wales as of January 2022 when the company took-over the NSW government's State Transit Authority. Other major operators include CDC, Transdev and Transit Systems. Most services are provided as part of the city's integrated public transport system, with routes, fares, service levels, fleet specifications and customer service standards determined by Transport for NSW. A small number of services operate outside of this network.
Coastal Liner is an Australian bus company operating services on the New South Wales Central Coast. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia.
Hunter Valley Buses is an Australian bus operator who operates bus, coach and charter services in the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales. Previously known as Blue Ribbon, it was one of the first companies to be bought by ComfortDelGro Cabcharge in 2005, now ComfortDelGro Australia.
CDC Ballarat, formerly known as Davis Bus Lines, is an Australian bus company operating in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It is a subsidiary of CDC Victoria, in turn a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia, in turn a subsidiary of Singapore-based ComfortDelGro.
CDC NSW is a bus operator in New South Wales, Australia. It is an umbrella brand of ComfortDelGro Australia established in 2017 to cover the latter's New South Wales operations, some of which had been owned by ComfortDelGro since 2005. It was subsequently established as a legal entity (company) in 2019. In early 2023, the Hillsbus and Forest Coach Lines brands were phased out in favour of the CDC NSW brand.
