Sunshine Islands Bus (aka Citybus or SIB) is the first successor to Sunshine Express and is owned by the Sunshine Islands Government. It is a branch of the Sunshine Islands Transport Department that now oversees bus route allocations, route planning/design and vehicle standards. Sunshine Islands Bus is also responsible for scheduling and managing the fares for all routes in its jurisdiction, as well as maintaining bus terminals and interchanges.
The official in-game trivia piece for Sunshine Islands Bus
Due to the failure to complete the Central Connect fleet preparation progress before the release of Sunshine Islands V2, Sunshine Islands Bus was hence introduced as an interim operator before Forever Transit was ready to take over the Zone 4 tender. This arrangement lasted from the start of Sunshine Islands V2 to June 28, 2024, when Forever Transit Central Connect was launched.
History[]
On June 1, 2024, Sunshine Islands Bus began operations, directly taking over Sunshine Express' remaining operations and integrating the Transport Department's bus route management branch.
Although the department has no buses with its branding, new bus stops with the Sunshine Islands Bus brand were installed along most Zone 4 routes (although some stops are yet to be updated). This move was made as the government also directly operates the metro system in the Islands, which is also a branch of the Transport Department and opened the same day.
Sunshine Islands Bus further implemented standardization across all buses, such as requiring the companies to have working automated announcements, turn signals, drivers' tablets and working lights on their fleets assigned to the Islands. In addition, it required low-floor buses to have a working ramp for wheelchairs and kneeling functionality.
On June 29, 2024, Sunshine Islands Bus ceased direct involvement in franchised bus operations, and the franchised routes that were operated by the state were taken over by FT Central Connect. As a result, the government owned buses are now part of the reserve bus fleet. Sometimes, SIB vehicles may be used on route U47 and private hire trips, although they may operate on franchised routes when loaned to operators. However, Sunshine Islands Bus continues to maintain a role in overseeing overall bus operations and route allocations to franchisees in the Islands.
Most of the Sunshine Islands Bus-branded stops have been replaced with Forever Transit Central Connect branded signage as of August 2024, while some stops in Zone 4 still have Sunshine Express branding (the predecessor of Sunshine Islands Bus).
Fleet[]
A debranded ADL Enviro500 owned by Sunshine Islands Bus
Although not confirmed by addisonshiu or other developers, it is assumed that the New World First Bus specification Alexander Dennis Enviro500 (55xx), Kowloon Motor Bus specification Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC (ATENU), and the Blocky Basic belong to the fleet of Sunshine Islands Bus. In the spawn menu, the operator is referred to as "HK" or Hong Kong prototype buses.
Although REBC's Dennis Darts are owned by said company, they are classified under the operator HK_Rare, implying that they are likely leased to and operated by Sunshine Islands Bus. Despite this, they are not Hong Kong prototype buses (actually being built to British specifications) and have roller blind exposures for all routes in the Sunshine Islands.
However, the above buses do not have any logos referring to the Transport Department, with the Enviro500 MMCs having the word "BUS" styled like the KMB logo on the front instead.
In October 2024, all real-life based vehicles had their fleet numbers and registrations changed to avoid further copyright issues with real-life bus companies. For the ex-NWFB Enviro500s, the fleet numbers were changed to the 14xx/15xx series, while the ex-KMB Enviro500 MMCs had their fleet number class renamed as the AIFNU series. This would later imply these vehicles' status as semi-fictional buses.
Trivia[]
- Sunshine Islands Bus is the only state-owned bus company in the game, directly following its predecessor. It was also the only company that initially contracted out most of its operations, rather than maintaining its fleet. This changed in late June 2024, when SIB began using its own buses on Zone 4 routes.
- Sunshine Islands Bus now maintains the reserve fleet for the Islands, where it provides spare buses to franchisees on an as-needed basis.
- As a branch of the government, SIB is responsible for regulating bus operations in the Sunshine Islands.
- Sunshine Islands Bus is also the only company in the game that solely does non-franchised service in the Islands.
- All buses in the game, irrespective of bus company have automated announcements by Sunshine Islands Bus.
- Some users have created liveries showing the 55xx Enviro500s being leased to FT Central Connect.
- The Sunshine Islands Bus fleet has become popular for users wanting to drive decal wrapped buses or under their own company, as company logos are nonexistent on the Enviro500s and hidden on the Enviro500 MMCs.
- Sunshine Islands Bus vehicles are the only ones that can be selected in the spawn menu to drive on any route under most circumstances.