Bus builder named Business of the Year

Written on the 3 December 2015 by Gold Coast PR Company Consulting Hall

Robina-headquartered bus manufacturer Transit Australia Group has been named the Gold Coast's Business of the Year.

The company was named the winner of the major annual title before a Who's Who list of the business community at the Gold Coast Business Excellence Award gala dinner held at Jupiters Hotel and Casino on Saturday night.

Transit Australia Group chief executive Michael McGee said the company, through its subsidiary Bustech, designed, engineered and manufactured five different buses for the Australian public transport industry.

There are more than 1500 Bustech buses in service across the nation. Bustech recently launched Australia's first fully electric bus and has been selected as the lead design and manufacturing partner in a $176 million dollar electric bus project with the Malaysian Government.

"The aim of developing a fully electric bus was to realise the environmental benefit of zero carbon emissions, along with reduced maintenance requirements due to the low number of moving parts required compared to standard combustion or hybrid vehicles,'' said Mr McGee.

"Over the next few years electric buses will grow in popularity due to the increased battery performance, decreasing costs and governments around the world demanding solutions for inner city pollution."

Transit Australia Group, which also runs Surfside Buslines and Sunbus throughout Queensland, has been owned by the Calabro family since 1989 when they purchased the Greyhound bus company.

In 1989 the company had 56 buses but it grew with the purchases of the Tweed Bus Service in 1993, Gold Coast Citybus in 1995, Gold Coast Tourist Shuttle in 1998, and Coomera Bus Lines in 2001.

Transit Australia Group was also named as the winner of the annual title in the Mayor's Innovation GC section.

The winners in the other categories were Gold Coast Organic Meats (Emerging Business Award), Coast 2 Coast Earthmoving (Family Business), sports apparel company BLK (Retail, Wholesale and Distribution), Condev Construction (Manufacturing and Construction), Ray White Surfers Paradise  (Trades, Services and Professions), Medical Rescue (Health and Wellbeing), Opmantek (Knowledge Management and IT), Timezone Surfers Paradise (Tourism, Hospitality and Events), REGEN Australia (Environment and Sustainability) and Family Fresh (Encouragement Award).

The awards' sponsors include City of Gold Coast, Suncorp Bank, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, OntheNet, Griffith University, Regional Development Australia Gold Coast, Pindara Private Hospital, Flight Centre Business Travel and Gold Coast Airport.

The major supporters are SMART McCann Worldgroup, KPMG, Document Solutions Australia, Consulting Hall, Regina King Photography, Jupiter's Gold Coast, Dreamweavers, Bruce Lynton BMW and Land Rover, Bond University and Gold Coast Suns.

The awards' media sponsors include the Gold Coast Bulletin, NBN Television, 92.5 Gold FM and 90.9 Sea FM.