New buses are good news: but someone needs to drive them
The NSW Government announced on 11 March that it was investing $56 million in 50 new Scania-Volgren articulated (bendy) buses. It also said it had purchased 10 new double decker Volvo buses, expected mid-2026, for the B-Line service on the Beaches.
The new buses will join the 83 bendy buses (50% from Keolis Northern Beaches) that were being reinstated after they were stood down late in 2024 to undergo repairs to their chassis. More of the existing bendy bus fleet will arrive on the Northern Beaches later in the year. But who will drive these buses as Keolis Northern Beaches struggles to recruit drivers?
The NSW Government has acknowledged the driver shortage and said the Northern Beaches ‘bore the brunt’ of it.
Independent Pittwater MP Jacqui Scruby said on social media that Keolis and the State Government were pushing for new drivers.
“The bus driver shortage is real,” she said. “I am pushing for a campaign targeting younger drivers as the average age for a driver is in the 60s. There are also issues with employment contracts and union requirements.”
President of the Tram and Bus Division of the RTBU NSW Peter Grech said rates of pay were an issue. “You can’t run a reliable bus network on wages that don’t keep drivers in the job.
“There’s no question that low pay and poor conditions are contributing to the bus driver shortage in areas like the Northern Beaches.”
Independent Wakehurst MP Michael Regan told PL he had raised the issue of pay with Keolis in March. “Bus driver shortages aren’t happening by accident, they’re the result of a system that isn’t attracting or retaining workers. “What (Keolis) is doing now is simply not working. We want reliable bus services for our community, so we need to make driving a bus a job people actually want to do. We need flexible working conditions to attract a more diverse workforce. The unions can play a role here without doubt.”
Keolis is actively recruiting drivers across the Beaches using electronic road signs, banners at the depot in Brookvale and social media, along with advertisements on employment websites.
Mr Regan said he had also met with Transport Minister John Graham and said he was ‘encouraged’ with what the government was doing to assist. “But the onus falls back to the operator to deliver the services they signed up for. If that is no longer the case, then hand the contract back.”