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About Us

The History of ACT Bus

ACT Bus

ACT Bus is a transport enthusiast website started in 2005 with the aim of documenting the operation of public transport in the Australian Capital Territory. Our site is split into a number of key areas:

Website

  • News and media releases relating to the public transport network. 
  • Feature articles that take a closer look at the different components of the network, fleet, and services. 

Gallery

  • Over 7,000 photographs of buses, trams, and infrastructure. 
  • Comprehensive ‘tagging’ to allow users to easily access photos of buses in certain locations, operating a particular route or of certain models.

Fleet Wiki 

  • Individual articles on more than 1,500 buses (past and present)
  • Complete fleet lists for both current and former buses
  • All articles categorised for easy cross-reference.

Forum

  • Sign up for free and discuss all aspects of transport in Canberra
  • It’s not all about transport – discuss Canberra in general, play games, and meet others with an interest in transport!

Network Wiki

  • Individual articles on more than 1,100 bus routes (past and present)
  • Historic timetables for hundreds of bus routes
  • Complete route lists for each Network that has operated over the years
  • Search by route number, terminus, interchange, or suburb. 
  • All articles categorised for easy cross-reference

Site Timeline

  • 2005 – Site established on a free 5mb Geocities server
  • 2006 – Site moves to actbus.bur.st
  • 2006 – Route listings added (December)
  • 2006 – ACT Bus Gallery launched (December)
  • 2007 – ACT Bus Forum launched (December)
  • 2008 – Site moves to actbus.net (October)
  • 2008 – ACT Bus Fleet Wiki launched (November)
  • 2009 – Due to growth, the site moves onto a Content Management System. (December)
  • 2012 – Site moves to a larger server to allow future growth (April)
  • 2018 – Canberra Metro Trams added to Gallery and Wiki
  • 2026 – ACT Bus Network Wiki launched (January)

We’re keen to expand our website and if you would like to help in any way, please get in touch. We are always happy to accept submissions, revisions, requests, and compliments, but we are particularly interested in old photographs, timetables, and fleet information in either hard or digital copy. Sign up through our forum or contact us.

ACT Bus has been recognised by the National Library of Australia, who selected our site to become a part of the Pandora Web Archive Project, now part of Trove. As a result, an annual snapshot of our website is added to the Trove website in September of each year. You can access the ACT Bus record at Trove here.