Wynbus launches cheap Uber-style on-demand bus service in Tarneit

Wyndham, like much of Melbourne’s western suburbs, is a notorious public transport black spot, but a new operator is working to fill the void, and best of all, it’s cheap.

Commuters in Tarneit will find it much easier to get around once Wynbus launches its on-demand bus service. Picture: Nathan Dyer

Getting to and from destinations in Tarneit is set to get a whole lot easier once Victoria’s strict stage 4 lockdown eases.

Fresh off the back of its roaring success in Point Cook, Wynbus, an Uber-style on-demand bus service, will launch a trial in Tarneit as soon as it’s safe — and legal — to travel more than 5km from home.

The bus project’s co-ordinator, Senthill Sundaram, said people could use an app on their phone to book a spot on a 12-seat minibus.

Bus stop locations and operating hours were being nutted out in consultation with the community, but he said a Tarneit housing estate developer was so impressed with the business model they’d already laid down funds to pay for the trial.

Until now, Melbourne’s western suburbs were an infamous public transport black spot, Mr Sundaram said, and people on low incomes who didn’t know how to drive or couldn’t afford a car were particularly disadvantaged.

Wynbus, he said, aimed to fill that void.

“When we launched the trial in Point Cook a lot of professionals, students, young mums and elders took the service,” Mr Sundaram said.

“A lot of professionals and students live in Tarneit and they want to go the city to find work and study. The station car parks are full as early as 7am, many don’t find a park space at the station or do not have a car and they have to walk for more than two kilometres (to the train station or to the nearest bus stop).

“What we want is a simple mode of mobility to take them to the station, and at the same time our solution is eco-friendly, reducing stress on station car parks and reducing road congestion.”

From just $2 for a seat as a starting fare, Wynbus was a cheap alternative to rideshare services such as Uber and Didi, Mr Sundaram said.

And unlike the big heavy buses used by commercial operators, he said Wynbus’s minibuses were small enough to travel through the narrow streets of Tarneit’s new housing estates, providing almost a door to door service.

Information from the trial would be sent to Public Transport Victoria in the hope of establishing permanent bus routes to service Wyndham’s growing community, Mr Sundaram said.

“The problem with other corporations like Uber and Didi is they take money out of Australia. So we’re saying, invest locally and that money can be invested back into the community.

“We are a social enterprise, we are not-for-profit … the long term model is to run these community buses for various groups including schools, aged care, sport clubs, government and businesses.”

For more information visit wynbus.org.au

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