The contracting of urban bus services – Recent Australian developments

Since 2011, very significant developments have occurred in the procurement and contracting of bus services in major Australian cities. After many years of ‘grandfathering’ (continuing rollover of negotiated contracts with long-established private operators), competitive tendering has been progressively implemented for bus services in Sydney and Melbourne, and is also planned for Brisbane. All bus services in Adelaide and some services in Perth, which were previously competitively tendered, have also been retendered.