We test new uber-style commuter bus, which comes to your house

A new bus which you can hail with your phone via an app will collect you from your door and take you to a transport hub. But does it work?

Manly Daily journalist Sarah Swain tries the new service.

A NEW, Uber-style service which allows peninsula residents to order a bus to their front door via their mobile phone has arrived.

Residents of Manly, Balgowlah, Balgowlah Heights, Freshwater, Curl Curl and Queenscliff can now use an app to order a lift from their home to transport hubs for the new B-Line buses, which start this Sunday.

The new service has now started.

Brookvale, Manly Vale, Balgowlah and Manly Wharf are the destination options from Ride Plus, which is on trial for six months with a possible extension to two years. Two 11-seater minibuses hit the road yesterday, with the service aimed at commuters.

It costs $3.10 a journey and buses are guaranteed to arrive within 10 minutes of their ordered time from 6am to 10pm.

Ride Plus currently covers these areas.

Manly state MP James Griffin urged residents to give it a try.

He said people in Curl Curl and Freshwater, in particular, had told him they needed more bus services.

“It’s about the efficiency and the personalised service,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence people will give it a go.”

When the Manly Daily tried the service on launch day, the new Mercedez-Benz bus turned up around 15 minutes after we ordered it, within the promised time.

New B line buses start running on Sunday.

And, as with Uber, we were able to see how far away it was. We were the only passenger heading from Manly to Balgowlah mid morning where, from Sunday, we’ll be able to hop on a new B-Line bus to the city.

With leather seats, phone- charging spots and Wi-Fi, it is a pretty comfy way to travel.

Until the confused driver tried to drop us on a residential street nowhere near the Balgowlah hub, close to Stockland.

The new Ride Plus service on the northern beaches is designed to meet the new B-Line buses

Users order the bus via a phone app, which works like Uber.

He said it was where the app directed him – but he said it would be fixed. And while our return journey went smoothly, peak-hour traffic could hamper what is a great service.

Another on-demand service will start in the former Pittwater on Sunday. Keoride uses cars from GoGet to link locals to the B-Line at Mona Vale.

Details: ride-plus.com.au, keoride.com.au