‘SANDY’ is the volunteer-run, ten-seater electric bus, which provides transport by donation in the Sandy Point area, in place of any other available public transport.

The service was established as an initiative by the Department of Transport (DoT) for small communities with a lack of, or no public transport, and it has been officially running for about eighteen months.

The service is financed entirely by traveller donations, some local sponsors and a team of volunteer drivers and administrators; and it is also a part of a study being undertaken by La Trobe University.

The two-year study will look at the viability of the service and will conclude in September this year with a report expected to be released following this, and it is looking positive.

President of the E-bus committee Frank Schrever said the service has been consistently busy across the summer months, with locals and tourists alike travelling to social type events, and with kids travelling to and from Melbourne specifically for Surf Life Saving.

At this time of year, demand for the service is somewhat reduced, according to Frank, however there are regular users who continue taking the bus to connect with the V/Line Service in Fish Creek and vice versa.

“The service is generating enough revenue to cover fixed costs,” explained Frank, which includes insurance, registration and maintenance.

This is despite their policy that if someone can’t pay, they can still ride for free. 

“That doesn’t happen very often and our users are quite generous,” said Frank.

The committee’s concern is primarily for the long-term future of the service, and how it can be retained once the current bus needs replacing; as well as maintaining a team of dedicated volunteers. 

“Money is being put aside in the eventuation of the bus having to be replaced, with an estimated replacement time being about ten years. About $90,000 will be needed to cover the cost of a new bus,” explained Frank.

There are a pool of drivers with two or three doing the majority of the heavy lifting and two main people running the administration side of online bookings and phone calls.

“It is purely run by volunteers, and the administration side of things is where more people power is needed.

“Finding extra people is a challenge and the same ones can’t continue to do it all the time. We need a team of administrators who know the software and can work it out.” 

The service also hasn’t been entirely free of departmental teething problems. 

The committee were originally told by the DoT that the service would be exempt from the requirements of an accredited bus service.

Meaning they could still carry both wheelchairs and school-aged children while being unaccredited. 

This was an important element as Foster Secondary School students were being transported to Morwell for special classes once a week, with a driver organised to stay and wait for them. 

They were later told they were not exempt and so began the onerous process of trying to gain accreditation, so they could continue to transport wheelchair users and students. 

Eventually, they were informed by DoT that they were exempt after all – and are now looking to reinstate the students’ trips to Morwell. 

Despite these few minor hiccups, Frank believes the service has been extremely beneficial for the community and anticipates it will continue to be a viable and important service for those it serves. 

Keep Sunny shining for everyone

Based at the Venus Bay Community Centre, Sunny, the E-bus has become an essential service for residents of Venus Bay, Tarwin Lower, and Walkerville, since its launch in January 2024. 

The bus has been used to connect locals to medical appointments, shopping, social outings, and events with transport to Wonthaggi and Leongatha, and well used in summer as a beach shuttle. 

Sunny has completed 1378 passenger journeys, with more than 700 trips made in summer alone and over 680 volunteer hours contributed from drivers and administrators. 

While the purchase of the bus was funded through the Department of Transport and research has been supported by iMove and La Trobe University, ongoing operational costs are not covered. 

Unlike the Sandy Point E-bus service, the Sunny service did not ask for donations from the public, due to having a different demographic and wanting to offer a free service.

“We offer scheduled, like shopping or appointment trips weekly and fortnightly to different locations and currently they’re free. Then we have a range of other services which require bookings, like to make a V/Line connection at a different time, and then we have social outings, or transportation to an event and usually there’s a cost to those, like, $10,” said Alyson Skinner, coordinator of the Venus Bay Community Centre. 

While a small amount of revenue is raised through private bookings and events; it will not cover the continuing service cost after the two-year trial has ended. 
To ensure the service can continue, the community centre are advocating for government backing, making some changes to the operations and asking locals for help, by establishing a ‘Friends of

Sunny’ group, where people can donate their time or money. 

“Our strategy is about raising enough funds to keep the service going. So, we know that a lot of people really appreciate the service and the fact that it’s here. They might not use it, but they want it to continue.”

After the two-year trial period ends the community can either keep the vehicle going at their own cost for a further three years and the E-bus is then owned outright, or it has to be given to another community or charity in the region. 

“As long as we can raise enough funds to keep it going, we will keep it going because it is a fantastic project,” said Alyson.