The Urban Transit Authority, a former

statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being empowered or delegated to set rules (for example re ...

of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party o ...

, was responsible for the operation and maintenance of buses and ferries in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

and Newcastle from July 1980 until January 1989.

History

The Urban Transit Authority was established pursuant to the that separated the functions of the

Public Transport Commission The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980. Upon dissolution, responsi ...

with the State Rail Authority taking responsibility for trains, and the Urban Transit Authority responsibility for buses and ferries. It was replaced in January 1989 by the State Transit Authority.

Fleet

Urban Transit inherited a fleet 1,680 buses comprising Leyland Worldmasters, circa 740

Leopards The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus ''Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

, Atlanteans and 657 Mercedes-Benz O305s. By 1987 the O305 fleet would total 1,287, the world's largest. These along with Mercedes-Benz O405s had replaced most of the Leylands when Urban Transit ceased. The inherited ferry fleet consisted of five ferries dating from the 1910s (''

Kameruka ''Kameruka'' and ''Kamiri'' were near identical ferries that served on Sydney Harbour. ''Kamiri'' was built in 1912 and ''Kameruka'' was launched on 8 February 1913. They were double-ended " K-class" steam ferries, a type that was prolific on Sydn ...

'', '' Kanangra'', ''

Karingal Karingal is a local area within the suburb of Frankston located in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is in the local government area of the City of Frankston (app. 45 km South East from the Melbourne CBD) History European settlement o ...

'', '' Karrabee'' and ''

Lady Edeline ''Lady Edeline'' was a Sydney Harbour ferry built in 1913 for the Balmain New Ferry Company. She and four similar ferries, ''Lady Chelmsford'' (1910), '' Lady Denman'' (1912), ''Lady Ferguson'' (1914), ''Lady Scott'' (1914) were a new series of "L ...

''), seven Lady class ferries ('' Cutler, McKell, Woodward, Wakehurst, Northcott, Herron'' and ''Street''), two Manly ferries (''

Baragoola MV ''Baragoola'' was a ferry formerly operated by the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company and its successors on the Manly service. The sixth and final of the -type Manly ferries, the vessel entered service in 1922. Built with a triple-expa ...

'' and '' North Head'') and five

hydrofoils A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

(''Fairlight, Dee Why, Curl Curl, Long Reef'' and ''Palm Beach''). Urban Transit introduced four ''Freshwater'' class ferries for the Manly service ( ''Freshwater'', ''Queenscliff'', ''Collaroy'' and ''Narrabeen''), two hydrofoils (''Manly'' and ''Sydney'') and nine

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command o ...

catamarans (''Sirius, Supply, Alexander, Borrowdale, Charlotte, Fishburn, Friendship, Golden Grove'' and ''Scarborough'').Sydney Ferries Fleet Facts
Transport for NSW

Services

Among the new services introduced by Urban Transit were route 111

Sydney Explorer 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. History On 23 ...

in November 1980 and route 300

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the Syd ...

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (colloquially Mascot Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, or Sydney Airport; ; ) is an international airport in Sydney, Australia, located 8 km (5 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, in the ...

in 1982. Both were operated by Mercedes-Benz O305 buses in dedicated liveries.

References

{{Authority control Ferry companies of New South Wales Defunct government entities of New South Wales Transport in New South Wales Transport in Sydney 1980 establishments in Australia 1989 disestablishments in Australia Defunct transport organisations based in Australia

History

Fleet

Services

See also

References