Benders Busways

Benders Busways is a privately owned transport company in Geelong, Victoria. It operates a number of public transport routes in Geelong under the Geelong Transit System umbrella, as well as bus charter work. Since 2000 it has been part of the Kefford Corporation.

History

Benders Busways was started by Ernest and Aimee Bender in 1926 in Geelong. The first route ran from Geelong to Chilwell, and in 1931 a second route commenced from the Geelong Post Office to the corner of Minerva Road and Aberdeen Street in Geelong West.

The closure of the Geelong tram system in 1956 saw Benders win the contract to serve the tram routes with buses. 18 new buses were purchased to run the increased number of services.

In 1991 three Mercedes-Benz compressed natural gas powered buses were trialled by Benders Busways. [cite web
url=http://www.eidn.com.au/PDF/ERDC204.pdf
title=NGV Bus Demonstration - H Bender - December 1993
accessdate=2007-07-26] This fleet later expanded to 9 buses. [cite web
url=http://www.busaustralia.com/fleetlists/benders.htm
title=BENDERS BUSWAYS fleetlist
accessdate=2007-07-26]

Benders acquired the smaller I.J. Cook & Son bus company of Geelong in the late 1990s. In June 2000, the Bender Family sold the company to the Kefford Corporation. [cite web|url=http://www.geelonginfo.com/search/webpage.asp?clientid=12943|title=Geelong Info - Benders Busways|accessdate=2007-07-26]

Livery

When the Geelong Transit System was first introduced in 1983, [cite web
url=http://www.ptua.org.au/media/2001/press35.shtml
title=PTUA press release: Bring Back the Booklet
accessdate=2007-07-26] buses operated by Benders on route services were painted in the blue stripe and white Geelong Transit System livery. Upon the sale of Benders to the Kefford Corporation, buses were repainted in their corporate scheme, but with green stripes on a white base.

Routes

Benders currently operates routes to Lara, Corio, North Shore, Grovedale, Belmont, Waurn Ponds, Highton, Deakin University, Newtown, Herne Hill, Hamlyn Heights, and Newcomb and occasionally Leopold and Drysdale

References

External links

* [http://www.kefford.com.au/ Kefford Corporation's website]
* [http://www.eidn.com.au/PDF/ERDC204.pdf ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: NGV Bus Demonstration]
* [http://www.busaustralia.com/fleetlists/benders.htm Benders Busways fleetlist]