At Monday’s unveiling of French firm Keolis Downer as the new operator of Newcastle’s privatised transport system, Mr Constance hailed the “historic” move to scrap traditional timetables in favour of demand-driven bus, ferry and light rail services.

Part of that mix includes the introduction of so-called on-demand buses, a service that has been employed with mix results in countries like the United States and Finland.

While details on how the service will work are scant, a Keolis Downer spokeswoman said the service would operate similarly to a ride sharing app.

“On demand bus services form part of the larger transport service and focus on providing more tailored trips for customers,” she said.

“Keolis Downer’s vision is for Newcastle Transport to provide a system where customers can book services using smartphone technology. 

She said the company would work with “local transport planning experts and the community in the trial phase to get the best results for Newcastle”. 

In Boston, where the private on demand bus company Bridj has been operating since 2014, customers use the company’s app to request a ride.

The service works by allowing customers to use the Bridj app to set a pickup site for passengers heading to similar destinations, then drops them off in a central location.

It comes a month after the Baird government announced a trial of on-demand buses, trains and ferries by the private sector to begin in 2017, and Mr Constance, who has backed the introduction of disruptive technologies in the public transport mix, said it was “exciting” to see it being introduced in Newcastle. 

“On-demand buses will be a dynamic part of the public transport mix in Newcastle,” he said.

“You can dial for a pizza, why shouldn’t you be able to dial for a bus right to your door?

“It offers incredible benefits, especially for people travelling outside the peak period, and who need a transport option outside the fixed routes.”

But Tony Morton, head of the Melbourne-based Public Transport Users Association, said on demand services made more sense in regional or remote areas, with low population density.

“I guess this is the kind of thing that probably makes sense in a rural area with a scattered population that you can’t effectively serve with a regular service,” he said. 

“In an urban area though we should be able to do better than that, basically there does seem to be this idea that because you once ran a bus and it had no passengers you can’t make a regular route work, when in fact the real problem is you’ve never provided a service that would make people think twice about leaving their cars at home.”

Mr Morton is well-acquainted with Keolis Downer, which has run Yarra Trams – the Melbourne metro tram service – since 2009.

“That's actually a paradigm example of a service that runs consistent, high frequency and reliable services,” he said.

“Everyone can count on them, the only thing they can’t count on is that they’ll fit on the tram, they’ve become victims of own success.

“You can basically go to any tram stop in Melbourne during the day and a tram will show up within 10 minutes, it’s an example for other transport systems to emulate.”

However while Mr Morton said Keolis Downer had managed the service effectively, it didn’t deserve all of the credit.

“That [service] predated privatisation by many years, it’s been a consistent feature of Melbourne’s tram system going back a century.

“It really one part of the system that basically made a kind of effort to compete with the car as a transport option.

“It's not because they’re a private company or in spite of it that they're successful, it’s really just an example of a good operation.”