What Vehicle is Right for You?

Sydney Bus Hire has the right vehicle for you and your group. Please read below so you are aware of the types, seating capacity and comfort of the fleet to suite your requirements for your tour, charter / hire, wedding, airport transfers and general transfer and shuttle bus services.

1.    Luxury Coach (25-50 passengers)
2.    School Bus (1-65 passengers – 50 sitting / 15 standing)
3.    Minibus (13-24 passengers)
4.    Minivan (7-12 passengers)
6.    Micro-coach (1-6 passengers)

7.    Luggage trailers (1-20 suitcases)

Coach

A coach (often called luxury coach) carry 25 to 50 passengers with a fleet of 34, 42, 46, 48 and 50 seater coaches. All coaches have mod cons including air-conditioner, DVD player, curtains and carpet. Some of the coaches do not have toilets and some do but the ones that do may have been converted into store rooms and remain locked to the public but regular toilet breaks are scheduled throughout the day on any coach without toilets.

School Bus

These are the people movers and cheaper than the coaches. There is nothing luxurious about them, no air-con and no luggage compartments. Used for schools and sometimes just getting a lot of people there and back at the cheapest rate.

Minibus

1. The Toyota Coaster 20 seater minibus is by far the most popular and reliable minibus on the market. These minibuses carry up to 20 (or 21 depending on the year model) passengers and the most popular minibus in the fleet. It has a lot of space to manoeuvre inside the vehicle and its seats are low-backed providing the passengers with a full 360 degree view.

We all know Toyota is a reliable brand and these Coasters literally go forever. We like to call it “the social minibus” as passengers can see all around them and easily communicate with other passengers in the bus. By far the best minibus for reliability & comfort in Australia in its class.

2. The Mitsubishi Rosa 24 seater: the people mover in the minibus market. A good bus by any means but the sacrifice of space to squeeze in extra seats means a sacrifice of comfort and having high-backed seats means that all you see is the back of the seat in front of you.

Theses minibuses are great for general charters but for touring it is not recommended or if there is a guide or team leader wishing to talk on the mic requiring everyone’s attention then passengers could be asleep and they wouldn’t be none the wiser.

For social groups it is not recommended. Another drawback for this vehicle is that it doesn’t suite the larger folk as the sacrifice for space for more seats means the aisle is very narrow which requires most people to walk sideways down the aisle and often bumping into other passengers and the seats are bucket seats which are smaller so not too comfortable for the larger folk or the passenger sitting next to them. You cannot simply take up 2 seats as they are separated unlike the Coaster.

The Rosa is designed for maximum capacity in minimal space.

We usually refer to the Rosa as a 24 seater, not a 25 seater. If there is 24 passengers then one has to sit in the front away for the rest of the group.

Minivan

Still classed as a minibus, these are 14 seaters which is 13 passengers plus one driver.

The most common is the reliable Toyota Hiace.

The common class of these vehicles is usually called 12 seaters which is what we display on the website. The reason is that we don’t want to fill to capacity which would mean 1 passenger in the front. If you have 13 passengers we still recommend the 20 seater Coaster but we can do 13 in the Hiace if requested.

Micro-Coach

The name given to the smallest legal passenger vehicle allowed operating as a public passenger vehicle or tourist vehicle. This is a Toyota Tarago with a seating capacity of 6 (or 7 with one in the front). The micro coach is classed as a 7 seater on our website.

Luggage Trailers

Used for carrying luggage is an enclosed, lockable & weatherproof box-trailer.  Luggage trailers come in various sizes but usually the trailer is suited to the type of vehicle attached to.

In general: a 20 seater minibus would bring a luggage trailer suitable to hold 20 suitcases and a 12 seater a large or medium size but a 7 seater looks pretty strange pulling a large 20 suitcase trailer which causes wind resistance as the trailer is larger in width & height than the 7 seater so a small 10 suitcase trailer would be required.

The coaches don’t need one as they have under storage luggage bays and overhead storage for overnight bags and hand luggage.

Excess baggage or oversize luggage for passengers (depending on the group size) may require an extra luggage vehicle at the expense of the passengers. So excess baggage is not recommended unless it’s unavoidable but it will cost extra for a luggage vehicle.  A Passengers standard luggage requirements are 1 x large suitcase and 1 x cabin bag or hand luggage. Surfboards, golf clubs, prams and bikes etc is considered oversize luggage and should be mentioned at the time of booking.

minibus trailers on coaches is not something we do.

Children, Babies / Child restraints and booster seats

Do we need a child restraint in coaches & minibuses?

NSW  RTA regulations states the following;

Buses (more than 12 seats)

“A driver of a bus, that is designed to seat over 12 adults (including the driver), is not required to ensure passengers, including those under 16 years of age are in a restraint. It is recommended that where a restraint is available, it should be worn.”

What this means is a parent can nurse a baby or toddler without restraint in a vehicle over 12 seats.

For passengers in Australia & arriving from overseas (with different laws) it is always best to tell the company at the time of booking if children will be travelling on the bus and provide the children’s ages.

We can provide a child restraint or booster seat which needs to be requested at the time of booking.

Please feel free to call us and discuss the vehicles capacities,

comfort and legal requirements.

Please check Our Fleet page.