⚠️ This article refers to a bus service which operated between 1980 and 1981.
The Tuggie Bus was a short-lived community bus service that commenced operation in Kambah and Wanniassa on Monday 9 June 1980.
Routes 555 and 556 operated in anti-clockwise and clockwise loops respectively. Whilst they travelled along parts of existing bus routes, they also travelled along streets that were not previously serviced.
On those streets, new wooden ‘peg’ style bus stops were added, painted red to differentiate them from the usual yellow pegs. The words ‘Tuggie Bus Stop’ were printed on them.
The Service
The Tuggie Bus service had its genesis in discussions with the Tuggeranong Community Council (TCC), which was chaired in the late 1970s by Mary Porter. The TCC identified the transport problem faced by residents of Kambah and Wanniassa without a car, who wished to travel from one side of Kambah to the other and from Central Wanniassa to various community facilities in Kambah. Almost all travel took place during off-peak periods which made the introduction of a special off-peak bus service a practical proposition – at least in theory.
A high level of liaison with the TCC was undertaken and two routes, ultimately to become 555 and 556 appeared to meet all known requirements. The service commenced on 9 June 1980. Passenger loadings varied considerably with loadings increasing in school holidays from one or two to five or six per bus departure. Route 555, the anti-clockwise route, was the weaker of the two routes by a large margin – unfortunately patronage on many trips was zero or one or two.
Although requested by the community groups, some of the diversions did not generate any passengers (such as Allchin Circuit, Learmonth Drive and Springbett Street).
The Downfall
New Tuggie Bus routes and timetables were to be introduced on 30 March 1981 but the Union delegates would not approve the changes and implementation was delayed ‘until further notice’. No further notice was forthcoming and the service ceased on 3 July 1981.
The proposed changes for March 1981 would have deleted many of the diversions in Kambah, and extend the services through a large part of Wanniassa and Monash.
The Vehicles
ACTION already had two buses in the fleet suitable for the conduct of a community bus service when service planning took place: ZIB 407 and 408 which were Toyota Coasters that had been delivered in August 1975 and were used on a mix of feeder services in developing suburbs and special school runs.
In late June 1980, two Toyota Hiaces were transferred from the Commonwealth Special Duty Fleet (SDV) to ACTION and re-registered ZIB 552 and 568 to be used as backup buses whenever a Coaster was not available.
Following the cessation of the Tuggie Bus service, all four Toyotas were withdrawn and on 24 July 1981 the two Coasters were transferred to the Department of Administrative Services for disposal. The fate of the two Hiaces is not known.
- 408 was delivered August 1975, disposed 24 July 1981
- 407 was delivered August 1975 and registered as ZIB 409, it was transferred to the Commonwealth Police and re-registered on 3 November 1976, then returned from Police in February 1977 and re-registered as ZIB 407 on 9 February 1977. It was disposed 24 July 1981 as 407.
- 552 was a 1977 model delivered as ZID 904 on 12 June 1980. Disposal date unknown.
- 568 was a 1979 model delivered as ZIE 538 on 12 June 1980. Disposal date unknown.
The Routes
You can view the Tuggie Bus timetable in our 1980 collection.
Route 555
Erindale Centre, Comrie Street (L) Sternberg (L) Wheeler (R) Fincham (R) Athllon (L) Vosper (L) Livingston (R) Summerland (R) Mannheim (L) Sulwood (L) Inkster (R) Marconi (R) Drakeford (L) Sulwood (L) Kambah Pool (R) Barritt (L) Allchin (L) Barritt (R) Boddington (R) Bateman (L) Learmonth (L) Vansittart (L) O’Halloran (R) Springbett (R) O’Halloran (R) Drakeford (R) O’Halloran (L) Jenke (R) O’Halloran (R) Drakeford (L) Taverner (L) Forlonge (R) Wheeler (R) McBryde (L) Comrie Street, Erindale Centre
Route 556
Erindale Centre Comrie Street (R) McBryde (L) Wheeler (L) Forlonge (R) Taverner (R) Drakeford (L) O’Halloran (L) Jenke (R) O’Halloran (L) Drakeford (L) O’Halloran (L) Springbett (L) O’Halloran (R) Vansittart (R) Learmonth (R) Bateman (L) Boddington (L) Barritt (R) Allchin (R) Barritt (L) Kambah Pool (R) Sulwood (R) Drakeford (L) Marconi (L) Inkster (R) Sulwood (R) Mannheim (L) Summerland (L) Livingston (R) Vosper (R) Athllon (L) Fincham (L) Wheeler (R) Sternberg (R) Comrie Street, Erindale Centre
List of facilities serviced by the routes
Erindale Centre, Wanniassa Oval, Padua Catholic College¹, Kambah Health Centre, Kambah Post Office, Kambah High School², Kambah Homestead Community Area, Kambah YMCA, Springbett Street Shops, Castley Circuit Shops, Mt Neighbour Primary School, Carleton Street Shops, St Thomas the Apostle Primary School, Kambah Village Centre, Hillview Shopping Centre³, Mannheim Street Community Centre and Shops, Village Creek Primary School, Livingston Avenue Shops, Wanniassa Primary School, Sternberg Crescent Shops, Wanniassa Community Centre
1 – Now St Mary Mackillop College
2 – Now Namadgi School
3 – Hillview Shops located on Marconi Cres at Lascelles Circuit.
This page was last updated on 19 February 2023
