Sydney is a fast growing city with new (and far flung) suburbs getting added to the city’s community almost each year. To cater for the transport needs of these suburbs (also referred to as villages), give their residents access to the various amenities they need and generally to connect them to the rest of the city’s community, the Shuttle bus service was launched.
On the last two working days of each week, that is Thursday and Friday, a couple of free village to village shuttles operate between the various villages that make the wider Sydney city. If you happen to be around these villages and traveling when this shuttle happens to be passing, then you get a free ride, with no catches whatsoever – which is a very rare thing in many cities nowadays.
One of the two village to village shuttles operates between Woolloomooloo (yes there is a place called that) and Redfern while the other one shuttles between Broadway and Redfern. Both are operated – free of charge on Thursdays and Fridays- by the South Sydney community transport.
The South Sydney community transport is a non-profit organization which gets most of its funding through the country’s Home and Community care program and which as part of its community care programs, provides the two shuttles between Woolloomooloo and Redfern and the one between Redfern and Broadway. To increase its funding though, the bus does also run a bus hire service at very reasonable rates. Subject to availability of the buses, it makes a lot of sense to hire buses for travel into the villages of Sydney, because for one, the drivers (who traverse these places on a weekly basis) are more likely to be aware of the routes there – and secondly because by hiring the buses from the organization, one travels with the knowledge that proceeds from the money they pay for the trip goes towards helping a worthy cause – because the free village to village shuttle services offered by the South Sydney community transport help many deserving people in the villages to access the public and shopping amenities they need to make their lives easier. In any case, the bus hire rates charged by the South Sydney Community Transport organization – it being a non profit organization – are highly reasonable.
The shuttle between Woolloomooloo and Redfern serves other villages on its route, and these include Potts Point, Darlinghurst and Surry hills. It gives the residents of the said areas access to among other facilities the Kings Cross Station, the Surry Hills Shops and the Saint Vincent’s Hospital. Now the knowledge of these kinds of places can come in handy when, for instance, hitch hiking in Sydney as a visitor.
The shuttle between Broadway and Redfern also serves the residents of the villages of Glebbe and Waterloo – and among the facilities it gives them access to are the Broadway Shopping Center on Broadway, the bank at Redfern, the library at Glebbe and the RPA hospital. Note that the Broadway to Redfern shuttle service – while a relatively new service – has already been successfully pilot tried, and is likely to be there in the long term.
