UN 204: Kingston proposes better buses for the south-east

 

The City of Kingston is advocating for better bus services in Melbourne's south-east. It has set up a website listing three major and three longer term advocacy priorities. After public consultation on them finishes next month these will be submitted to Department of Transport and Planning in September. There has already been media coverage of Kingston's bus advocacy including in Australasian Bus & Coach and Dandenong Star Journal. 

This advocacy comes at a desirable time. The 2025 state budget marked a revived interest in bus services though all but one of the new initiatives were in Melbourne's west and north. However 2026, being the last budget before the state election, offers an opportunity for advocates (including councils) to be bolder in what they ask for. With the potential for what doesn't get budget funding to be picked up by one or more of the political parties in the campaign for November's state election. 

Kingston's six route wish-list is mapped below. 

Key and major priorities

Key priority is the east-west Route 828 between Hampton and Berwick via Southland and Cheltenham. This is a long route with a lot of residential catchment and destinations away from the rail network. Not just in the City of Kingston but also in Bayside, Greater Dandenong and Casey. While it runs every 20 minutes on weekdays its weekend service falls off to every 40 minutes on Saturdays and 60 minutes on Sundays. Kingston wants this upgraded to run every 20 minutes every day, working the existing bus fleet harder. 

Route 708 and 903 are described as major priorities. Route 708, operating every 30 min on weekdays and 60 min on weekends, serves nearly all of southern Kingston away from the Frankston line. It also passes near the under-construction Mordialloc Aquatic Centre. Council is seeking a weekend upgrade to every 30 minutes. It would also like to hear views on whether the 708 should be deviated via Aspendale Gardens Shopping Centre, something that would be convenient for some but would slow other peoples' trips. 

Route 903 is Melbourne's busiest single bus route with many major destinations en route. Operating from Mordialloc to Altona it is one of our three orbital SmartBuses. Weekday service is every 15 minutes but weekend service has 30 minute gaps - not ideal for a premium route. Kingston wishes to see the busy Mentone - Box Hill section of this route improved to operate every 10 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends.  

These three service upgrades would improve public transport connectivity across a large section of Kingston, particularly on weekends. The main expense would be extra bus driver hours. Routes 828 and 903 (especially) are above average patronage productivity with improved service likely to stimulate further usage growth (as happened when Route 800 on Princes Hwy gained greatly improved weekend service last November). I suggested all three upgrades as bus advocacy priorities for Kingston last year. 

Longer term priorities

The above major priorities are relatively simple to implement as they are upgrades of existing routes. Improvements can happen as little as six weeks after budget funding if there is sufficient political will as seen with Werribee's bus upgrades starting soon.

Adding new routes or reforming existing routes tends to take longer. But this is still important to tackle network gaps or inefficiencies. Kingston has three longer term priorities here, as follows: 

Bay Road corridor bus. Currently there is no direct public transport between Southland Shopping Centre and Sandringham station despite there being a direct road there. Neither does Southland station have bus routes nearby. The closest alternatives are routes 708, 822 and 828 which are both indirect and not consistently frequent. A Bay Rd connection could be formed with a new route or (more economically) rerouting an existing route like the 828 direct from Southland to Sandringham. I have written about the need for a Bay Rd bus many times including in my list of bus advocacy priorities for Bayside. 

Southland - Elsternwick Nepean Hwy bus. Nepean Hwy is a major thoroughfare but significant sections have no bus. Other parts do have a bus but it is the occasional Route 823 from Southland to Brighton once an hour on weekdays only. A reappraisal of the local bus network would likely include a Southland - Moorabbin - Elsternwick bus that would fill this 'missing gap' in the network. Again this route features in the bus advocacy priorities for Kingston I prepared last year. 

Mordialloc - Clayton - Monash University bus. Current public transport access from southern Kingston to the Monash employment and education precinct is very poor. The state government has spent hundreds of millions building the Mordialloc Freeway for these type of trips but has done zero for public transport on this corridor. Access to local jobs is also a problem with Braeside being a public transport desert save for a handful of Route 705 trips a day from Mordialloc (which instead of continuing north to Clayton turns off to Springvale). A new Mordialloc to Monash University bus would be more expensive than some of the other upgrades discussed here but would make many trips faster and easier than now. I investigated the possibility of such a route back in 2019 here.  

What else could have been advocated?

I'd have liked to have seen a Route 733 extension to Southland, Cheltenham or potentially even Sandringham along the lines of the Suburban Rail Loop SmartBus concept. While appealing, the implementation would be slower than straight service upgrades due to the need to tie in with bus network reform in the Oakleigh/Clarinda area.

Other potential inclusions include improved weekend frequencies and simplification of the 811/812, improved Route 824 weekend frequencies in Clarinda and 7 day service for the very infrequent 857  between Chelsea and Dandenong. Better weekend service on the crowded 902 orbital is arguably even more important, though much of it runs on the Springvale Rd border between Kingston and Greater Dandenong, with its busiest portions being in Greater Dandenong and Monash more than Kingston. 

A risk that may have ran through Kingston's mind is that asking for too much can complicate messaging and mean that nothing requested happens. If you accept that then the six options chosen is probably a good balance. 

Conclusion

The City of Kingston has come up with six proposals that if adopted will greatly improve bus travel not only in the City of Kingston but also adjoining municipalities including Bayside, Monash, Box Hill and Greater Dandenong. 

The real test is how the state government reacts. While DTP might back the proposals they would all require budget funding that requires political support.

It is for this reason that I urge people that as well as completing the Kingston bus survey they request the support of state parliamentarians to advocate for. fund and deliver these essential bus service upgrades. 

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