Chelsea to Airport West: Pictures from Route 902's first day

Several major changes to Melbourne bus routes occurred today. The most important was the introduction of Route 902, our second orbital SmartBus route. The photos below are of the bus on its maiden end-to-end trip, starting at Chelsea and ending at Airport West, approximately 76km or over three hours later.

Chelsea (terminus)

Springvale

Glen Waverley

Nunawading

Doncaster Shoppingtown

Eltham

Greensborough

Campbellfield

Broadmeadows

Airport West (terminus)

Observed patronage was low at the start of service (6am on a public holiday) but steadily built up during the day. Many people were seen exploring the route, taking advantage of the two week's free travel.

Several other routes were created or altered as a result of Route 902's introduction. These include Route 281 (shortened to Templestowe to avoid duplication with Route 902 and extended to Deakin Uni on weekdays), Route 735 (extended to Forest Hill Chase and Nunawading to compensate for the deletion of 888/889) and Route 858 (serves Edithvale and Chelsea Heights as a replacement for the 888 and 889). In addition National and Ventura introduced new timetables and shortened Routes 200 and 203 to Bulleen terminus (Routes 305 and 903 cover the Bulleen - Doncaster Shoppingtown portion).