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 reg ...

of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

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

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

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, respons ...

with the

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities A ...

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 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 ...

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 cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

Atlanteans As an adjective, Atlantean (or Atlantian) means "of or pertaining to Atlas or Atlantis". Atlantean may also refer to: * Atlantean figures, a type of ancient artifacts * ''Atlantean'' (documentary series), a trilogy of TV films discussing the or ...

and 657

Mercedes-Benz O305 The Mercedes-Benz O305 is a single deck, double deck or 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 ...

s. By 1987 the O305 fleet would total 1,287, the world's largest. These along with

Mercedes-Benz O405 The Mercedes-Benz O405 is a single-decker bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz buses, Mercedes-Benz from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s as either an Bus manufacturing, integral bus or a bus chassis; it was the last VöV-Standard-Bus, VöV SL-II s ...

s 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 Sy ...

'', '' 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). The locality has no predefin ...

'', '' 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 o ...

''), 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 were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

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 Big Bus Sydney, previously Sydney Explorer, is a hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus tour in Sydney, Australia. History On 23 November 1980, the Urban Transit Authority commenced operating the Sydney Explorer looping the Sydney central business di ...

in November 1980 and route 300

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

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport — colloquially Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney Airport or Mascot Airport — is an international airport serving Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district, in the subu ...

in 1982. Both were operated by

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