On a Thursday, January 9, 1936, a local newspaper argued, “Shepparton has definitely grown to that stage when a passenger transport system is necessary.” In the article, the newspaper described how the town’s local housewives, “have to walk a distance of over half a mile,” to go shopping would benefit from a local bus system. Translate that distance to a near kilometre walk, and add Shepparton’s over 13,000 school age children, and you’ll understand why school buses are so important to our area today.
Although Victoria only started running formal school bus services in 1944, it was as early as 1937 that, local resident Stan Monti began running Shepparton’s first ever bus services, which handled both taking children to and from school, and routes during the day through the town, stopping at popular locations like Wyndham Street and the old Post Office.
At Shepparton’s Museum of Vehicle Evolution (MOVE), The Victorian Bus and Coach Society is currently sponsoring a classic Dyson from 1968. While Dyson started in Melbourne, and their buses did not reach Shepparton until almost 30 years later, the 1968 Comair Beford bus, which would’ve been used for routes around town, primarily by housewives, will still give our older locals flashbacks to the days these colourful old school buses used to line the streets of Shepparton.
Since the 1930’s bus services have come a long way across the Goulburn Valley, making travel to school a much easier task for our residents. However, Greater Shepparton has not has a review of bus routes since 2009, with some towns and new housing estates are still not connected, meaning there’s always room for improvement.
With school going back for students across the community this week, in this sweltering heat we can be thankful for modern, air-conditioned buses. For another place to escape the heatwave, you can escape to the MOVE museum at 7723 Goulburn Valley Hwy, Kialla VIC 3631 to see the 1968 Dyson Comair Bedford, as well as ‘The Icons’ exhibit showing off an impressive collection of the famous cars of Australian history.
Keep an eye out for the soon to come extension to the museum which will bring more rare and historic buses, with funding raised by the Bus and Coach Society to support this development, as well as a sweeping collection of motorbikes, expected in mid-May of this year.
