On Saturday 1 May 1948, Rockhampton City Council officially took control of the town’s urban bus services from private ownership in order to improve service frequencies, introduce coordinated schedules between routes, and implement a modern standardised fleet of diesel vehicles.
Councils empowered to takeover bus services
On 24 December 1946, the State Transport Facilities Act 1946 (Qld) was passed into law to bring about the most substantial reform of the transport industry in Queensland to date. The State Transport Commission would soon be abolished with jurisdiction over the licensing of passenger services conferred on the newly created position of the Commissioner for Transport.
This legislation provided local authorities, such as Rockhampton City Council, with the right to apply to the Commissioner for Transport to be issued a licence to operate passenger services within their area. If granted, Council would displace all existing privately operated services affected by the application.
In June 1947, Rockhampton City Council applied to the Commissioner for Transport to acquire 8 privately operated services with 29 registered buses under the terms of the State Transport Facilities Act 1946 (Qld). The application by Rockhampton City Council was approved by the Commissioner for Transport and formally ratified by Cabinet on 16 December 1947.
Compulsory acquisition of private bus operators
A total of 8 bus routes were acquired by the Rockhampton City Council from 6 operators with 29 registered buses at a cost of £39,767.
| Licensee | Routes | Last day of operation | Registered Buses |
| Byrne Motor Company | East Street-Depot Hill East Street-General Hospital | Thursday, 29 April 1948 | 4 |
| Gerald Edward Byrne & Son | Rockhampton-Wandal | Friday, 30 April 1948 | 3 |
| Montague Crompton Davies | Rockhampton-Port Curtis-Gracemere | Friday, 30 April 1948 | 4 |
| Frederick George Hopkins | East Street-Park Avenue East Street-Yaamba Road | Friday, 30 April 1948 | 10 |
| Kenneth Leslie Johnston | East Street-CQME Store, Lakes Creek | Friday, 30 April 1948 | 7 |
| Robert Fitzroy Johnston | Rockhampton-Yeppoon-Emu Park | Friday, 30 April 1948 | 1 |
Byrne Motor Company (City-Depot Hill and City–General Hospital)
G.E. Byrne & Son (City-Wandal)
Another long established Rockhampton operator was Mr. Gerald Edward Byrne whose involvement with buses started in 1920 on the Depot Hill route under Council subsidy. The first vehicles were Model T Fords with locally built bodies – as Byrne Motors were Ford dealers at the time. The General Hospital route was established during 1921 before later being extended to the Grammar School. The Byrne Motor Company was also responsible for the importation of Vulcan chassis from the United Kingdom, as well as Kissel and Stewart chassis from the United States. These vehicles then had open-sided ‘toast-rack’ bodies built locally by Byrne Motors, and Fred Attwood on Lakes Creek Road.
During January 1939, the family company expanded with the purchase of the Wandal route from Mrs. Mina Amelia Burton with three vehicles comprising an International, a Ford V8 and a Chevrolet. Company proprietor, Mr. Gerald Edward Byrne (senior), passed away on 1 August 1939 at the age of 57.
The Depot Hill and General Hospital routes were owned by Byrne Motor Company with 4 registered vehicles, while the Wandal route was owned by G.E. Byrne & Son with 3 registered vehicles. The Council also purchased two unregistered vehicles in the company’s possession: a White 110A chassis-only and a Dodge which Byrne had partially constructed 40-passenger body upon.
Buses owned by Byrne Motor Company
| Registration | STC No. | Chassis | Council’s Valuation |
| Q289-287 | 825 | Stewart 6-cylinder 3 ton | £411 |
| Q363-331 | 826 | Reo Pusher 6-cylinder 4 ton | £1,582 |
| Q297-063 | 827 | Stewart 6-cylinder 2.5 ton | £200 |
| Q352-081 | 828 | Stewart 6-cylinder 2.5 ton | £623 |
| u/r | White 110A 6-cylinder 4 ton | £1,450 | |
| u/r | Dodge 6-cylinder 3 ton | £1,915 |
Buses owned by G.E. Byrne & Son
| Registration | STC No. | Chassis | Council’s Valuation |
| Q298-669 | 822 | Stewart 6-cylinder 2.5 ton | £439 |
| Q386-717 | 823 | Chevrolet 6-cylinder 3-4 ton | £614 |
| Q377-186 | 824 | White 6-cylinder 4 ton | £1,700 |
M.C. Davies (City-Port Curtis-Gracemere)
Operating four vehicles at the time of takeover was Mr. Montague Crompton Davies who acquired the Port Curtis and Gracemere service from Mr. William Tate Hopkins during May 1943. The fleet acquired from Hopkins was very modern for the time and consisted of three Bedfords of normal-control design, largely fitted with Watt Bros bodied. A second hand Chevrolet was later added to the service by Monty during March 1944 as a spare vehicle, which along with the Bedfords, remained in operation until the takeover on Friday, 30 April 1948.
After losing his town run to Council, Monty Davies retained the Rockhampton-Mount Morgan service, which he instituted on Monday, 22 May 1944.
Buses owned by M.C. Davies
| Registration | STC No. | Chassis | Council’s Valuation |
| Q379-462 | 551 | Chevrolet 6-cylinder | £880 |
| Q313-074 | 846 | Bedford WTL 6-cylinder 3-4 ton | £1,017 |
| Q319-807 | 848 | Bedford OB 6-cylinder 4-5 ton | £855 |
| Q313-103 | 849 | Bedford WTB 6-cylinder 3-4 ton | £655 |
F.G. Hopkins (City-Park Avenue and City–Yaamba Road)
The largest private operator in Rockhampton at the time was Mr. Frederick George Hopkins who had 10 vehicles operating to Park Avenue and Yaamba Road, north of the Fitzroy River. In approximately 1913 Fred pioneered the North Rockhampton service with a horse-drawn vehicle which was soon extended to Park Avenue under trial. In November 1921, Fred Hopkins introduced the first motor bus to the service which had perimeter seating and solid rubber tyres.
In October 1940, Fred Hopkins acquired the Park Avenue service from Mr. R.D. Dubois with 3 International buses. Mr. Dubois had in-turn acquired the Park Avenue run from T.W. Bean and Company during May 1938.
For a time Fred Hopkins operated in tandem with his brother Mr. William Tate Hopkins, who ran the Rockhampton-Port Curtis-Gracemere service until May 1943. The business was a family affair with Fred’s sons Jack and Cecil working alongside him in Rockhampton, while his brother Bill ran a bus service in Mackay under the name of Hopkins Brothers, a partnership between Bill and Fred Hopkins.
Buses owned by F.G. Hopkins
| Registration | STC No. | Chassis | Council’s Valuation |
| Q407-379 | 388 | Chevrolet 6-cylinder | £1,051 |
| Q398-573 | 389 | White 110A 6-cylinder | £2,500 |
| Q384-065 | 479 | International K5 6-cylinder | £1,097 |
| Q303-755 | 839 | International D30 6-cylinder | £907 |
| Q291-878 | 840 | International D30 6-cylinder | £652 |
| Q321-440 | 841 | International D30 6-cylinder | £531 |
| Q315-123 | 842 | International D35B 6-cylinder | £1,089 |
| Q291-154 | 843 | Stewart 44×3 6-cylinder | £435 |
| Q299-807 | 844 | International C40 6-cylinder | £691 |
| Q307-000 | 845 | International D35 6-cylinder | £942 |
K.L. Johnston (City-Lakes Creek)
R.F. Johnston (City–Yeppoon-Emu Park)
The final two routes acquired by the Council were the Lakes Creek and Yeppoon-Emu Park services which were owned by Mr. Kenneth Leslie Johnston and Mr. Robert Fitzroy Johnston respectively. The Johnston family were another pioneering bus family in Rockhampton who originally ran in competition to Lakes Creek (North West of the city) with the Council’s tram train from 1921.
For a period the brothers shared joint ownership of buses in Bundaberg with another brother Earl, but later split the business into separate concerns during September 1936. At the time of takeover on Friday, 30 April 1948, the Johnston Bros operated 8 vehicles in total which carried names such as ‘The Clipper’. This vehicle was a 1940 Watt Bros bodied Reo modelled on the Clipper vehicles in the United States and quickly earned a reputation amongst tourists on the service to Yeppoon and Emu Park.
Buses owned by K.L. Johnston
| Registration | STC No. | Chassis | Council’s Valuation |
| Q383-425 | 487 | Stewart 6-cylinder | £546 |
| Q396-023 | 851 | International KS5 6-cylinder | £1,457 |
| Q376-507 | 852 | International KS5 6-cylinder | £831 |
| Q375-484 | 853 | Dodge 6-cylinder | £660 |
| Q321-025 | 854 | Reo 6-cylinder | £2,000 |
| Q374-083 | 986 | Diamond T 6-cylinder | £930 |
| Q431-721 | International KS5 6-cylinder | £605 | |
| u/r | Dodge 6-cylinder | £75 | |
| u/r | Stewart 6-cylinder | £250 |
Buses owned by R.F. Johnston
| Registration | STC No. | Chassis | Council’s Valuation |
| Q379-249 | 957 | Chevrolet 6-cylinder | £532 |