Sunbus Sunshine Coast

Sunbus Sunshine Coast is an Australian operator of bus services on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. It operates 25 services under contract to the Government of Queensland under the TransLink banner. Sunbus is owned and operated by Transit Australia Group. It is one of Sunbus' operations.

Sunbus Sunshine Coast
Bustech bodied Volvo B12BLE Unit #5707 at Sunshine Plaza in June 2006
ParentKinetic Group
Founded1995
Service areaSunshine Coast
Service typeBus operator
Routes27
HubsKawana Shoppingworld
Noosa Heads
Noosa Junction
Sunshine Plaza
University of the Sunshine Coast Landsborough
Nambour
Depots2
Fleet91 (May 2018)
Websitewww.sunbus.com.au

History

In 1995, Harry Blundred, the proprietor of Thames Transit in the United Kingdom, was awarded the operating rights to route services in the Sunshine Coast region, taking over the services around Caloundra and Maroochydore that had been provided by Sunshine Coast Coaches.[1] In 1996, Tewantin Bus Service was purchased with the services between Maroochydore and Noosa.[2]

As part of the deal, Sunbus was also responsible for the operation of school bus services in the region, however these were sold in 1997 to fellow British bus operator Stagecoach.[3][4]

In April 2008, Blundred sold Sunbus Sunshine Coast along with the other Sunbus operations to Transit Australia Group.[5]

In April 2019, Transit Australia Group was purchased by AATS Group, parent company of Skybus and majority owned by OPTrust.[6] In August 2019, AATS Group was rebranded the Kinetic Group.[7]

Routes

Sunbus operate 27 services under contract to the Government of Queensland under the TransLink banner.[8]

Fleet

Sunbus introduced a fleet of Mercedes-Benz Vario midibuses and Toyota Coaster minibuses. These have since been replaced by Bustech bodied Volvo B12BLEs and Bustech MDi and XDis.

As of May 2018, the fleet consisted of 91 buses.[9] Sunbus introduced a light blue livery. This has been replaced by the TransLink livery of white body, green ends, a green and blue wavy stripe down each side and the TransLink logo toward the back. However, buses 5701-5728 (excluding 5707), and 5533 still sport the original livery.

Depot

Sunbus operate depots in Caloundra and Marcoola.

References
  1. "Private Operators" Fleetline July 1995 page 237
  2. "Tewantin Bus Service" Australian Bus Panorama 12/3 December 1996 page 53
  3. "Private Operators" Australian Bus Panorama 13/1 August 1997 page 22
  4. Buslink Australian Bus Fleet Lists
  5. Merger of minds Australasian Bus & Coach July 2009
  6. "Skybus Operator to Acquire Transit Australia Group - Bustech not Included". Australasian Bus & Coach. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  7. "Skybus parent relaunched as 'Kinetic'". Australasian Bus & Coach. 8 August 2019. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  8. A new bus network is on the way for the Sunshine Coast Archived 14 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine TransLink November 2013
  9. Sunbus Australian Bus Fleet Lists
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