UN 247: Councils advocate major bus upgrades

Executive Summary: Councils across metropolitan Melbourne have united to back major bus network improvements in a Metropolitan Transport Forum advocacy paper published recently. With key figures (including the premier) known to personally support bus service upgrades, the time is right for state election contenders to publicly back the improved bus services that Melburnians need and are requesting.  

The Metropolitan Transport Forum group of councils has followed BusVic and the Public Transport Users Association is requesting party and candidate support for improved bus services across Melbourne. 

Such upgrades deliver benefits across a wide area, can be quick to implement and are very cost-effective. They are also something that this government has planned more than delivered with progress slow against Victoria's Bus Plan according to the Auditor General. 

MTF's priorities include simpler routes, longer operating hours and higher frequencies, particularly on weekends. MTF's priorities, with input from most councils across Melbourne, are set down in a detailed Bus Services Analysis (pdf with everything - including maps) prepared by Movement and Place Consulting. 

General comments 

The Analysis starts by making a case for investment in bus services. Many bus network improvements are relatively low cost and simple to implement and spread benefits to all residents, not just those near trains and trams. Noteworthy points made include: 

* Large variations of public transport service levels by local government area with the City of Melbourne being  highest and Pakenham-based Cardinia (whose buses typically have 60 minute or more gaps, even in peak) the lowest. Service per capita shows a similar result. 

* Most municipalities have seen a decline in public transport service per capita. This is because service provision (across all public transport modes) has not kept up with population growth in about two-thirds of council areas. 

* Growth areas likely to slip furthest behind if services are not increased include Cardinia, Melton, Wyndham and Casey. The analysis did not include the Shire of Mitchell but this is also likely to be in this group. 

* There was a strong association between public transport service provision and car ownership. This has significant cost of living implications due to the household costs of buying, financing and running a car. 

* Analysis is done on service span for buses by municipality. Personally I'd have used more typical Monday to Thursday night numbers rather than Friday night (which is skewed by Night Network). Service spans vary between 14 and 18 hours though there are neighbourhoods where they are more likely to be only 12 hours (and less on weekends). 

* Over half of municipalities had average gaps at stops between buses that exceeded 20 minutes. This average conceals variations where many stops would have 40 to 60 minute gaps, particularly on weekends. 

* Weekend bus services are about half weekday frequency on average. Cardinia, Melton, Casey and Mornington Peninsula score well on this score. But this is entirely due to weekday services also being infrequent (typically hourly). At the other end of the scale Merri-bek is lowest ranked as their buses typically run every 20 minutes on weekdays but often lack Sunday service. Hobsons Bay and Moonee Valley have similar patterns - that is densifying inner areas whose bus timetables reflect pre Sunday and in some cases pre Saturday afternoon trading. 

* The average cost of running a bus is about $7.10 per kilometre, though it should be noted that buses have lower carrying capacity than other modes. Still it makes adding bus service relatively cheap. 

* Some savings measures on high frequency routes by improving bus priority, spacing stops wider and reappraising run times are suggested. 

* Certain radial and orbital main roads are designated as economic corridors. These have been identified as major bus corridors that justify more intensive service. Some of these have very infrequent service currently, especially on weekends. 

Local government area priorities (my comments in red)

Banyule

- Splitting the complex and confusing 566 Also desirable to extend to Pacific Epping/Northern Hospital

- Extending 561 to Greensborough 

- 7 day service for every bus route including 548 and 549

Bayside

- Simplifying the very complex 600/922/923 

- Flipping 822 and 828 to make the latter more direct along Bay Rd

- Extending 824 to Brighton to replace the complex 811/812 in area

Boroondara

- Extend 567 to Camberwell via Kew and Swinburne to provide a Chandler Hwy bus

- Extend 734 to Caulfield 

- Amalgamate 548 and 624 to provide a simple La Trobe - Caulfield - Oakleigh route

Brimbank

- Service upgrades for 400, 408 and 418

- Connect 417 and 427 for better access to jobs in Laverton North

- New connections from Melbourne Airport to Brimbank 

- Reform bus routes to connect across railway lines at Sunshine, St Albans and Watergardens

- Bus priority on Ballarat Rd and improve 215, 426 and 456 service levels

Casey

- Improved frequency on 828 and 893

- A new Dandenong - Frankston outer orbital involving routes 861, 841 and 791

- Improved bus network directness in Hampton Park and Berwick

- Route extensions to improve connectivity to employment areas such as Dandenong South 

- Earlier introduction of bus services in growth areas

Darebin

- Improved frequency on 301, 508 and 510 301 less important until rail frequency is boosted

- Extend 536 to Reservoir by merging with reformed 558 

- Combine 567 and 609 to provide a Northland - Swinburne connection via Chandler Hwy

- Simplify bus routes along Bell St and Murray Rd and improve frequency 

- Merge 548 and 624 to provide a combined La Trobe - Swinburne - Monash Caulfield route 

Frankston

(not involved)

Glen Eira

- Network reform in Bentleigh East area with a straightened route 822 enabled by reform to 626 and 627

- Rerouting 823 to terminate at Elsternwick to serve more of Nepean Hwy

- Extending 630 to Fishermans Bend

- Increased frequency and span for 703 particularly weekends and peaks

Hobsons Bay

- Consolidate 411 and 412 into a simpler route 

- Improved industrial area coverage by rerouting 400 to Williams Landing, 152 to North Williamstown and 154 to Newport Removing the very popular 152 from Williams Landing is political poison but the 400 idea has much merit

- Realign indirect 432 and consider connection to West Gate Punt

- Reform 232 to run via Fishermans Bend and remove the Toyota deviation 

Hume

- Flip routes 901 and 902 at Broadmeadows so that 901 goes to Airport West and 902 to Melbourne Airport
- Sunday service on 538 and same frequency 7 days on 532 
- Merge some bus routes through Roxburgh Park and Broadmeadows interchanges to reduce the need to change (eg 477/538, 542/544, 531/540)
- Growth area exensions 

Kingston 

- Improved frequencies on 828
- Improved frequencies on 903 (especially weekends)
- Improved frequencies on 708 (especially weekends) 

Manningham

- A new Pines - Templestowe - Heidelberg bus route 
- Replace the poorly used 280 / 282 with routes that better serve local needs
- Investigate a frequent busway on the Doncaster Rd corridor

Maribyrnong

- Simplify Footscray - Highpoint bus services including 223/406 consolidation
- New connection between Maribyrnong, Ashley St and Tottenham 
- Review central Footscray bus network and interchange
- Bus priority including possible 220 BRT on Ballarat Rd

Melbourne

- Extend 604 to Williamstown Rd to improve connectivity from Anzac Station

- Realign Route 232 via Lorimer St to connect Fishermans Bend with western suburbs 

- Boost 241 weekend frequency

- Improved bus priority on key streets including Hoddle, Queen, Lonsdale and to Fishermans Bend

Melton

- Increase span and frequency of 460
- New Taylors Rd Bus Rapid Transport going to Melbourne Airport

- Reform Melton township bus network with better frequency and directness

- Improved hours and frequency across bus network
- Early delivery of bus services in growth areas

Merri-bek

- Extend 536 to Reservoir (via 558)
- Extend Route 527 to Broadmeadows and improve Sunday frequency
- Increase frequency and span on 503, 506 and 508
- Increase 531 to a tram-like service level to connect with 19 tram An extension to Coburg station would be highly desirable

Mitchell
(not involved)

Monash

- Increase frequencies on Route 737 
- Increase frequencies on Route 754
- Upgrade Glen Waverley bus interchange

Moonee Valley

- Flip routes 503 and 510 in Essendon for more directness
- Increase frequency and span on 503, 506 and 510
- Extend 478 and 479 to Moonee Ponds Would overlap other routes - better to boost frequency/hours

- Upgrade Moonee Ponds interchange for better accessibility 

Mornington Peninsula

- Reform 782 and 783 and coordinate with trains Irregular train timetable would need fixing first

- Increase frequency and span of 787
- Continue 887 express bus further down peninsula
- Improve service levels in Rosebud and Dromana

Nillumbik

- Merge Route 343 with southern half of Route 566 
- Provide bus coverage on Bolton St Eltham as part of a wider network review
- Simplify network to remove unidirectional running on routes 517, 518 and 582
- Harmonise bus with train frequencies 

Port Phillip 

- Upgrade Route 606 to run more frequently
- Simplify the very complex Routes 600, 922 and 923 
- Provide an east-west connection to Anzac Station by extending Route 604 through South Melbourne

Stonnington

- Extend Route 734 from Glen Iris to Caulfield via Gardiner Station
- Extend Route 603 north to Victoria Gardens
- Connect Route 604 or 605 to Route 235 to connect Metro Tunnel to Fishermans Bend
- Combine 548 and 624 to provide a simple north-south route from Ivanhoe to Caulfield
- Simplify bus routes between Caulfield and Huntingdale including 623/624 consolidation

Whitehorse

- Simplify bus services including consolidating 281 and 293 along Edgar Rd

- Provide a new Canterbury Rd bus from Union Station to Ringwood
- Boost weekend frequencies to weekday levels on the busiest routes including 302, 304 and 903

Whittlesea

- Extend Route 357 in Wollert further north and potentially south to Reservoir
- Combine some routes to run through railway stations eg 358 and 369 and 390 and 385 Some routes  eg 390 justify higher frequencies than others eg 385 and combining may prevent needed service upgrades on the busiest section. This problem has retarded service upgrades on the orbital SmartBuses.  
- Improve bus connections to La Trobe University
- Review bus network in area

Wyndham 

- Higher frequencies on popular routes including 150, 152, 160, 495 and 498
- Increase base frequency on Route 190 to every 10 min 

- A Wyndham bus loop between Werribee, East Werribee, Hoppers Crossing and Pacific Werribee

Yarra 

- Extend Route 603 to Victoria Gardens
- Boost servicing on, and marketing of, Route 246
- Boost 241 weekend frequencies

- Flip 250/1 with 504 alignment in Clifton Hill for better directness
- 24/7 bus lanes on Hoddle St

Yarra Ranges 

(not involved) 

Conclusion

Some councils stuck to three main points while others combined several routes in the one point to sneak a few more (mostly sensible) asks in. A limitation of the local government-based approach was that some potentially strong cross-regional bus corridors (such as as SRL precursors) didn't get quite the emphasis they deserve in my view. 

Still it is fantastic that MTF have brought councils together in this way. The implementation of its bus agenda would be a huge step forward for buses in Melbourne, reviving bus network reform from the hole it fell into after the 2022 state election. And with the next state election barely two months away and both premier Ben Carroll and key opposition members personally supportive of bus service upgrades, MTF's timing couldn't be better. 

Visit the MTF website both to view their proposals and watch videos on recent transport forums they have hosted around Melbourne. MTF has also written to all MPs requesting support. This makes it doubly important that whenever you see an MP or candidate seeking your vote, you ask them to urge their party to support major bus network upgrades like the MTF is advocating.   

An index to all Useful Network items is here

TT 242: Four Year Flashback - The bus reform that never was

Executive Summary: Proposed and promised bus network reform was to be the biggest people moving transport project in the state. It was quietly dumped some time in 2023. Here's what we know. 

Four years ago yesterday then public transport minister (and now premier) Ben Carroll promised a major review of bus services across Melbourne's north, north-east and Mildura. 

https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/major-review-buses-melbournes-north-and-north-east

This promise was made two months before the November 2022 state election. The department went to a lot of work, engaged consultants, commissioned reports, ran public surveys etc. 

My write-up on this at the time is here: 

https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/2022/09/un-137-bus-network-reviews-coming-to.html

Since then our understanding of state politics has changed with the state leadership. We can now view bus reform similar to Airport Rail - another project that was promised before the 2022 state election but dumped shortly after. Not only that but the same people were involved, including those out of favour with the then leadership. 

Here's the story. 

The 'eastern strategy'

While its primary vote share declined the election was a landslide for Labor with their seat number actually rising (despite lowered primary vote). It was a political triumph for premier Daniel Andrews, guaranteeing a time in office longer than either the Cain/Kirner or Bracks/Brumby Labor governments. 

Andrews Labor returned the favour to its new eastern and southern voters in the form of level crossing removals, new lifesaving clubs and, most spectacularly, the Suburban Rail Loop. Those involved (who you often hear interviewed on Socially Democratic) thought it was a political masterstroke. After all who can argue with three straight wins with increasing majorities each time?   

However what you might call Labor's 'eastern strategy' was funded by breaking promises or at least understandings in their western and northern heartland that political strategist Kos Samaras explained was considered a bank of safe seats that could be raided to retain the support of more electorally fickle centrist easterners. 

The 'freezer'

In transport the most high profile examples of this was the delayed Western Rail Plan, Melton electrification and airport rail, with the latter particularly associated with the out of favour Ben Carroll who was described in the media as being consigned to Daniel Andrews' 'freezer'. 

While Carroll was a senior minister (in Labor it's the factions, not the leader largely determining who forms the ministry) he was not then on the government's Expenditure Review Committee, the main group that directs spending priorities, especially when fast cuts need to be made.

Carroll reportedly found out about ERC's April 2023 decision to dump airport rail through a Herald Sun headline. This was doubly embarrassing to him. Both as the responsible minister for public transport and the local member who thought he had won a victory in September 2022 by getting the airport rail plans changed to include a station at Keilor East.

The glow of that helped win the election but was in tatters less than six months later. I'm reminded of how triumph turned to (ultimately unrecoverable) despair for the Keating government when after the 1993 election victory over Hewson's GST they brought down a deeply unpopular budget later that year with many tax rises.     

Premier Andrews was no friend of buses, whether in his own seat or elsewhere. His failure to get the Route 800 upgraded during his entire 20 plus years of holding Mulgrave (despite unprecedented new bus service funding under premiers Bracks and Brumby) illustrates that. And, in a partial repeat of 30 years earlier, relations between the state government and the protectionist local parts of the bus industry were soured by protests at parliament in 2018. That might have harmed what goodwill there was in government toward buses around this time, with passengers being the losers. 

The Bus Plan

So what happened to the major plank of Victoria's Bus Plan whose responsible minister was none other than Ben Carroll? The plan itself was launched in 2021. As I said at the time there wasn't much detail in it - that was to the the subject of a later Bus Reform Implementation Plan.

That became the bus reform pilot projects for Melbourne's north, Melbourne's north-east and Mildura announced before the 2022 state election. Extensive market research and planning was done including a staged plan for a grid network of buses every 10 minutes over long hours on main roads.

The potential of bus network reform is huge. In terms of people movement (potentially 80 million more trips per year) it is bigger than North East Link, West Gate Tunnel, the Metro Tunnel or the Suburban Rail Loop East but received a fraction of the new investment these 'Big Build' project got. Buses should be carrying more people than trams but the existing indirect and infrequent network punches below its weight in most areas.

Infrastructure Victoria was saying likewise and, through various reports and media appearances, was a constant voice for buses' potential. However after a long period of not being listened to very much, the government recently announced its intention to wind it up. 

Not running good buses is like a broadband network that delivers fibre to the node, not fibre to the premises. In transport terms poor last-mile and orbital bus networks weaken usage benefits from major capital projects such as level crossing removals and the Metro Tunnel. 

This is a flaw of major projects - Benefit Cost Ratios are used to justify funding for them but there are rarely reviews on whether anticipated benefits were realised (which is less likely if over-runs cause high-benefit connectivity and wider network features to be descoped - as has happened to both the Metro Tunnel and more recently the Suburban Rail Loop projects). 

So despite it being Melbourne's biggest people carrying transport project, bus reform joined airport rail (and Minister Carroll himself) in the freezer after the 2022 state election had been safely won. I was worried about that at the time and said so in June 2023 and again in December 2023.

The 2024 state budget marked the low point for buses in Melbourne. Only the Route 800 upgrade got funded - nothing else did, not even the bus plan that DTP spent more than two years working on. At the time we didn't know how or why government got cold feet on something that had previously been supported and promised. It was arguably a case of double standards; a $5 or $10 billion blow-out on a major project was accepted almost without question while an amount 1% of that could not be found to start (much lower financial risk) bus reform.   

The official silence was broken in September 2025 by a vigilant Legislative Council that got internal bus reform documents tabled (18 months after their request). My account of that (including media commentary) is here. After raising expectations the government lost interest in buses for a while with the 2023 and 2024 state budget particularly lean. And that's not mentioning the huge backlog in fixing 'low hanging fruit' due to the government then playing go-slow on bus reform since its rejection of the (admittedly flawed) Transdev network reform in 2015. 

Victoria's Auditor-General confirmed that the state government was not on track to achieve Bus Plan aims in a report tabled in June 2026 and discussed here. VAGO also found that departmental transparency was lacking. This confirms both my comments above and the difficulties the Legislative Council had getting its document request furnished. 

Lessons for advocates

The moral from this? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

When a political party promises a bus network review (regardless of merit) do not believe them. 

Daniel Andrews' Labor burnt those wanting bus reform in 2022. It could be them or another party who burns us in 2026. 

Instead anticipate a review's likely main findings and seek direct political commitments on them. Eg specific upgrades or extensions to specific routes. Such upgrades may need to be accompanied by network reviews for best efficiency and coverage but the review itself should never be the centrepiece of your ask. Asking for something specific means that you can have a yes/no answer on whether a proposal becomes a promise and whether this is honoured. 

Don't do what the Greens tried in 2022 and make wishy-washy promises about electric buses everywhere with no details of routes. Voters need to know the direct benefits of a policy to them and only maps with routes and proposed frequencies can deliver that for buses. A small number of affordable and specific undertakings is far better than promises of a grand but vague strategy. And don't get too caught up in result-less processes like the 'We need a transport plan' type people can be prone to doing. 

Out of the freezer onto the table?

The same change that saw Jacinta Allan take over from Daniel Andrews saw Gabrielle Williams take over from Ben Carroll as minister responsible for public transport.

Minister Williams was apparently in a warmer place with better luck winning funding than her predecessor. The 2025 and especially 2026 state budgets marked a revival of government interest in funding for improved Metro train frequencies and bus services. A major emphasis has been reducing maximum waits on selected bus routes from 40-60 to 20 minutes as well as some new or extended routes. 

This is very welcome and could be almost transformational if carried through to maybe 40 more bus routes across Melbourne. Though it does not replace the desirability 10 minute frequencies on major corridors for a true 'turn up and go' network. This is most economically funded by considering the sort of bold bus network reform that DTP  started work on in 2022 but was not progressed with. 

The future

It is too soon to know about the record of new Transport Minister Vicki Ward. Or the backing of the new premier who was so supportive of bus network reform as minister five years ago. Recent transport announcements have been about new or repaired roads - not closing the still widespread 30, 40 or 60 minute gaps that are effectively the potholes of a connected public transport network. 

Neither have we yet seen bus policies from any of the major parties. Shaping these will create a major opportunity for advocates with stakeholders like the PTUA and BusVic already making a contribution. It is also important for individuals like you to play a part by citing buses (and public transport services more broadly) when you meet candidates who solicit your vote. 

See other Timetable Tuesday items here

BusVic releases 2026 State Election Advocacy

 

BusVic, the industry body representing Victoria's family owned bus companies, has released advocacy in time for this year's state election. 

BusVic background

Never heard of BusVic? There have been times when the Association was legally and politically influential. Most notably in the late 1980s when it supported a successful Supreme Court challenge to the Cain government's bungled bus contracting (the Waverley Transit case - see AUSTLII transcripts for 1988 and 1989). 

And in the early 2000s its CEO John Stanley was the most effective advocate for what became the state's biggest ever bus service expansion program in the 2005 State Budget and delivered under the 2006 MOTC plan. Your bus probably runs on Sundays due to the minimum service standards campaign that BusVic ran, and the Bracks-Brumby government largely adopted.  

A continuing BusVic theme has been to resist the takeover of local family run bus operators by government and later large, often multinational, private companies. The value of family bus operators even became the basis of a PhD thesis by a former BusVic CEO in 2016 and a budget day protest at parliament in 2018. BusVic won significant concessions but the trend towards operator consolidation continued. 

The most recent bout of industry sales and mergers was a result of recent recontracting and capital-intensive bus and depot electrification in 2025. This resulted in the bulk of Melbourne's 350 plus routes being run by just four operators; Kinetic, Ventura, CDC and Transit Systems. All are large enough to do specialist functions that smaller bus companies previously used BusVic for.

The larger operators still need an industry body but now prefer the multimodal Public Transport Association of Australia and New Zealand (PTAANZ). PTAANZ's corporate approach and style is different to the small business-oriented BusVic. In contrast PTAANZ's leadership more visibly reflects the successful cross-industry Women in Transport movement and contemporary political leadership (four of the five ministers responsible for public transport since 2014 have been women) with the Women Who Move Nations podcast contributing to this profile. 

If PTAANZ has advocated for  improved service levels on public transport it has been in a private rather than public capacity, with no pre-election advocacy material sighted. Its members being dependent on government contracts would likely require an approach more subtle than that available to independent groups such as the PTUA or even the (to be abolished) Infrastructure Victoria. 

With the metropolitan route bus battle lost, BusVic's strength today is highest amongst charter, regional and school bus operators. Reflecting this, association emphasis has shifted to preserving local ownership of school and regional bus runs, with the Your Community Asset website established. 

This has also included the Connecting People Victoria document that you can read here.  

Connecting People Victoria advocacy document

Connecting People Victoria has ten policy directions. Not surprisingly, protecting existing school and regional bus contract arrangements is number one. 

Others also of interest include (2) service improvements and minimum service standards, (3) statewide myki ticketing, (5) improved road maintenance and (6) dedicated authorised officers for buses. 

Before the 2022 State Election Bus Vic presented a list of very specific bus upgrade requests split roughly evenly between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. Large parts were adopted almost word for word by the Liberal/National Coalition for its 65 point bus platform for that election. 

Reflecting its changed industry role, Bus Vic has taken a different approach in 2026. All of their specific asks are regional. If implemented they would make a significant different to bus services in many areas outside Melbourne. However readers should note that priorities largely reflect the interests of Association members. For example the complex Wodonga, Mildura and Shepparton town networks have high needs for reform but these are not operated by members so do not feature.  

Still, while not having many metropolitan members, Connecting People Victoria nevertheless covers off Melbourne bus service needs in its second point. Key asks include the establishment of minimum public transport service standards for all Victorian commuters such as:

• 15 minute bus services in all of Melbourne’s interface council areas

• A bus service aligned to all metropolitan train arrivals at major stops and interchanges

• 20 minute services for all other inner metro and regional bus services

• The extension of all routes on Sunday to accommodate weekend commuters

If implemented these would greatly improve the usefulness of buses across Melbourne. They are very similar in concept to the bus part of PTUA's Priority Transport Investments that I reviewed here.  

Accordingly I welcome BusVic's contribution and hope that it and similar documents (such as those from the PTUA and the Metropolitan Transport Forum) will inform the agenda for public transport service improvements in the coming state election campaign.