NSW To Trial On-Demand Public Transport In 2017 — Say What?

Hey NSW: Get ready to literally scrap your timetables in 2017 because public transport is getting futuristic.

According to the ABC, the NSW State Government has announced it will start moving towards on-demand transport services, using real time data to ensure buses arrive when and where they are needed.

They'll be using data on how people travel, the weather and special events to build a futuristic and timetable-less public transport system in New South Wales.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance announced they will be trialling the system with hopes that, next year, timetables can be scrapped from certain bus routes.

"You might live in a suburb somewhere or a country town, you can book online through an app your personalised transport service and have it arrive the next day at your front door and take you where you need to go," he said.

"If we have on demand movies, we should have on demand transport."

Sounds like a pretty terrific idea. I mean, it literally sounds so good (perhaps too good) to be true?

Unions have called the Minister's announcement a "thought bubble" that is lacking in detail.

Alex Claassens, secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, said: "I'm just not sure where he's going with this."

"This just seems to be one of those really great little ideas that you come up with after you've finished a bottle of chardonnay — it just doesn't make any sense."

how buses are gonna have to be if the government rolls out on demand transport pic.twitter.com/pwzMfJ26pK

— Māmā Umbrīdgē (@MAMA_UMBRIDGE) November 2, 2016

Claassens is assured that there's merit in using data collected through the Opal card to provide more tailored services based on commuter needs. However, he's just not convinced on the Minister's on-demand proposal just yet.

"To come out with this thought bubble today and say we're going to put transport on demand — well those of us who have worked in the transport industry all of our lives, we just don't understand how you'd do that."

Photo: Twitter (TransportforNSW)