Alan Passmore

Born in Sydney in 1949, Alan Passmore moved to the Northern Territory in 1991. Alan started up Centre Bush Bus in 1998, almost 20 years ago. He lived in a remote aboriginal community called Docker River from 1991 to 1998 and every time he went to town he took a Ute full of people to go shopping. Most people in the community did not have transport so they were unable to access even basic services.

When Alan moved into Alice Springs he knew Docker River needed a bus service to bring people into town for medical appointments, meetings, family visits, shopping, etc. Alan started running a weekly service run to Docker River and return. Shortly afterwards he started a service to Tennant Creek.

All the other communities heard about this wonderful man called Alan and his bush bus so they contacted him to ask if they could get the bus to their community. So now Bush Bus provides twice weekly bus and freight services to over 35 communities in Central Australia.

For the past 10 years, Central Bush Bus has been providing charters and tours to local and international customers to anywhere in Australia. Places as far away as Kangaroo Island and Derby, Western Australia and close by like the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs (made famous by a BBC UK / National Geographic USA documentary Kangaroo Dundee).

Centre Bush Bus contributes to the community by regularly providing sponsor ship for community events, school camps, art events, choirs, etc. Recent sponsorships include the Amoonguna Film Festival, the Scorpions Soccer Club, NT Cricket and the NPY Women's Council.

Centre Bush Bus travels over one million kilometres per year, has a fleet of 21 vehicles (15 buses) and employs over 35 staff locally. The past two years Centre Bush Bus workshops have been providing service, repair and warranty work to many bus/van/truck fleets in Central Australia and beyond. CBB are the certified Mercedes, Fuso and Freightliner centre for Central Australia.

Alan still has many good friends in the communities. Many communities see the Bush Bus as their own and treat the staff and buses with respect and pride.