Today is the day that Transdev takes over operation of Melbourne's busiest bus routes under the Melbourne Metropolitan Bus Franchise. Transdev replaces National Bus and Melbourne Bus Link who previously ran the routes. There were a lot of hopes for the new contract as you can see below:
These proved largely false. Transdev's bid was cheap and, as it turned out, nasty. Transdev skimped on cleaning and maintenance, leading to the dramatic intervention of Transport Safety Victoria in 2017 ordering a large percentage of its fleet off the road. A partly reformed 2014 timetable did proceed but the contractually required 2015 full greenfields timetable did not due to poor public consultation, some ill-conceived service cuts and a new risk-averse minister and government. Transdev lost the contract to Kinetic but was back again within a few years running our trams.
Note: Item added retrospectively for posterity.
