How An Airport Shuttle Service Works

It's a bright, sunny day.

I'm in the bus and driving to pick up the next passenger on my run to the airport.

First pickup went smoothly, no problems at all. I arrived at the address, they were waiting out the front. I pulled up, opened the doors for them, loaded their luggage and we were on our way.

I get to the next pickup. No-one is outside so I give them a call with the phone number they booked with. No answer.

I try the mobile number and luckily this time they pick it up. I let them know I'm outside and they make their way down after about 5 minutes.

My passengers and I breathe a sigh of relief as I disguise the rage that is about to explode from within, greeting the new passengers with a forced smile.

It's a tight schedule already, I didn't need more pressure for the peak-hour traffic run ahead of us. Anyway, can't do much about it now, except be as quick as possible without getting done for speeding.

We finally get on our way, pick up the next lot of passengers and then head for the airport, about 45 minutes away.

I've travelled these roads many times and would say that of the people on the bus, I know the route the best. I know which lanes to use at different points of the trip because of the many times I've made the journey.

I hear the first lot of passengers talking amongst themselves, discussing how they have to be at the airport by such-and-such a time.

They ask how much longer it will take to get there and I explain to them that it depends on the traffic, but all things going well we should be there within 40 minutes.

There's no way we're going to make their flight on time, even if we didn't have to wait for those passengers.

This is how it happens sometimes.

People will book a shuttle to the airport and not allow any time around it for anything. When this happens, they get a bit anxious and try to put the pressure on, like it's his fault they expected a direct transfer.

The fault lies with the passenger. They should have booked an earlier shuttle. Sometimes they are under the illusion that it's a direct transfer from their pickup point to the airport. They don't realise that it's a SHARED service.

When you book an airport shuttle, you are going to be picking up other people on the way. That is why it is a bus, not a car. That is also why a shuttle fair is so much cheaper than a taxi.

The short story above is a common scenario, simply because people don't understand the concept of the shuttle bus.

The way these businesses make money is by taking as many people as possible in one group to the airport. This way they can get multiple fairs in one go and thus make it an efficient use of time and resources.

For a direct transfer with no stops in between, a taxi service is needed. It will cost at least double that of a shuttle if there's any sort of distance involved and you'd hope you don't get caught in traffic, because those meters run on time as well.

For a cheap, fixed-rate transfer to your destination, a shuttle bus is just the ticket, but be aware the journey needs to be padded with time to allow for passenger pickups and traffic conditions.

If you want to get there on time, it is necessary to ensure you get on an early enough shuttle.

At the time of writing, Greg is an airport shuttle bus driver, working from the northern beaches of Sydney, Australia. He has a website, Airport Shuttle Northern Beaches, which is a directory of companies operating from the area that can be used if a shuttle is needed to the northern beaches from Sydney Airport.

The idea is that when you land at Sydney airport, you can get the numbers of four shuttle companies from one website. A useful resource for any beaches-bound airport traveller.

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