UN 242: No passengers but more buses - How Western Sydney is trouncing Melbourne on airport PT

Executive Summary: Despite not yet serving passengers, the second airport in Australia's second biggest city has better public transport access than the main airport in Australia's biggest city. Described is a way to cost-effectively deliver the overdue better bus service Melbourne Airport workers and visitors deserve. 

Regardless of new premier Ben Carroll's enthusiasm for Airport Rail, its completion will be a long way off.

In the foreseeable future if we want better transport from surrounding suburbs (such as where many airport precinct workers live) buses must be much of the answer. I've written before about opportunities for better bus access to Melbourne Airport, including here, here, here, here and here. And credit/debit card tap and go, introduced last month, removes another barrier to using regular bus services.

How do does Melbourne Airport compare with other airports for public transport? 

There are various airports we could talk about but let's be easy on ourselves by setting the bar low.

It would almost be a given that a busy long-established airport would have better transport than a new one that hasn't started carrying passengers yet. Or is it? Keep reading!   

Western Sydney International Airport public transport

A new bus network for Western Sydney International Airport commenced on July 5, 2026 with more details here. This was ahead of its opening for cargo on July 27. Passenger service is planned to start on October 25. 

This network comprises five bus routes to four major termini surrounding Western Sydney International Airport (WSI). These termini are Mt Druitt (772), Kingswood (790), Liverpool (825), Campbelltown (845) and Liverpool via Leppington (860). 

All five routes run 6am to 10pm seven days per week with service every 30 minutes. This harmonises with trains (typically every 15 minutes from early morning to late at night). 

Melbourne Airport buses 

Four regular fare metropolitan bus routes operate to Melbourne Airport. These run to three destinations - Sunbury, Airport West and Frankston (let's call it Broadmeadows, though you might also wish to count Roxburgh Park and Epping). 

Unlike the Western Sydney examples, their hours and frequencies vary hugely. The Route 901 orbital offers the best service, with a 15 minute weekday daytime frequency and some Monday to Saturday trips after 10pm. 901's weekend service is similar to any of the Western Sydney routes with buses every 30 minutes. However the trains it intersects are typically every 20 minutes (and sometimes 30 or 40 minutes), making connections less consistent. Sydney upgraded its trains to a 15 minute maximum wait at most stations in 2017. 

The next best served corridor is the 478/479 pair to Airport West from where passengers can catch the 59 tram to Niddrie, Essendon and the city. The combined service here is 30 min weekdays and hourly weekends though operating hours are short. The 479 is an extended 478, operating to Sunbury every hour on weekdays, falling to just two trips on weekend days. Finally, the 482 can be disregarded as it's an occasional peak-only industrial route to Airport West. 

One recent improvement that has made travel from Melbourne Airport easier is the acceptance of credit and debit cards on public transport across the state. I highlighted the benefits for airport travellers last month. However Transport Victoria didn't get the memo with their airport travel page still claiming a Myki is required for travel on regular bus routes. 

Comparison

The graph below tells the story. 

The long-established Melbourne Airport (which passes 96000 passengers per day) has a far inferior bus network than an upstart Western Sydney airport that currently has no passengers. Not that passengers is the only metric when considering airport travel demand; workers due to their every day travel are also important (even if only a minority take the bus). This is something that Sydney understands but Melbourne does not despite customer parking charges being a major source of revenue for the latter. 

MEL's inferiority is due to both (a) a smaller number of routes and (b) a lower frequency on routes that do run, especially nights and weekends. The collapse in both is shown below.  

Whereas WSI's five routes provide a consistent half-hourly service all week from 6am to 10pm, the service offer to Melbourne Airport varies greatly. For example the 482 is an occasional peak only industrial route, the 478 runs hourly seven days while 479 to Sunbury is hourly on weekdays with a token two trips on weekends. 

MEL's strength is the 901 orbital's fifteen minute weekday frequency versus 30 minutes for all of WSI's routes. 901 also finishes a little later most nights of the week. But otherwise everything is in Western Sydney International's favour, whether it is geographic reach, stations connected, operating hours, frequency and service levels at surrounding train stations.

Melbourne Airport especially lacks direct public bus connections to western and northern suburbs such as Sunshine, Keilor, Caroline Springs, Greenvale and Craigieburn. And access to others where there is on-paper a bus, such as Airport West and Sunbury, is limited due to short hours and infrequent service. 

Six fixes for Melbourne Airport PT

The main airport for Australia's biggest city should have better regular bus services than the secondary airport for Australia's second largest city. That means longer hours. more frequency and more destinations. 

Here's six ways to achieve this: 

1. Establish a new regular fare bus route from Sunshine to Melbourne Airport similar to the Route 500 concept here. Noting that a premium fare express Skybus already exists this route would have intermediate stops at key employment locations with potential operation via East Keilor. A Sunshine - Melbourne Airport bus route features in Brimbank Council's 2025-27 Advocacy Plan. 

2. Swap Routes 901 and 902 at Broadmeadows so that 902 operates to Melbourne Airport and 901 to Airport West. Supported by the Northern Councils Alliance, this provides more direct access to middle-northern suburbs and train lines and be effectively a Suburban Rail Loop North precursor route. Desirable enhancements for both reformed routes (but especially 902) include adding Sunday evening service, boosting weekend service to every 20 min or better and potentially extending it to Sunshine to incorporate the above 500. 

3. Upgrade and simplify bus route 478/479. Operate all trips (including short-workings from Airport West to Melbourne Airport) as Route 479 so people have only one route number to remember and frequency is better communicated. Have a uniform weekday and weekend frequency for both Airport West and Sunbury. Increase operating hours and frequency and improve passenger information to boost currently low awareness of this service. A Route 479 upgrade is supported by the Northern Councils Alliance due to the high number of airport precinct workers who live in Sunbury. 

4. A new local bus route from Melbourne Airport to the Caroline Springs area via Keilor Plains Station. This would have both airport and non airport connectivity benefits including connecting Keilor to its nearest train station. This could potentially extend further west as part of a North West BRT.

5. Wider northern suburbs rail and bus service improvements including:
(a) Craigieburn line upgrade to every 10 minutes off-peak,
(b) Extension of evening and weekend morning trains that terminate at West Footscray to Watergardens to provide a consistent 10 minute all week day and night frequency, 
(c) upgrade Tram 59 evening and early Sunday morning frequency, 
(d) bus network reform in the Keilor East area to provide longer hours, higher frequencies and stronger termini for routes such as  406, 407, 465 and 469,
(e) 7 day upgrade and extension to Coburg for the 531 bus to improve connections at Campbellfield pending the construction of a rail station, with local advocacy here,
(f) simplification of Reservoir area bus routes 552 and 558 to enable easier access to the 902, and
(g) potential new bus route from Melbourne Airport via Mickleham Rd to Craigieburn. 

6. Wider northern suburbs rail infrastructure improvements including:
(a) Revamp of Broadmeadows Station to improve its amenity as an interchange, including for international/interstate visitors, as recently spoken about by Kathleen Matthews-Ward MP
(b)  and a new station at Campbellfield to interchange with Route 902, and 
(c) Upfield line duplication to enable a 10 minute all week frequency.
 
All six points have connectivity benefits wider than Melbourne Airport and would amount to a transformation of public transport in the north/north-west suburbs. 

Conclusion

Currently the secondary airport in Australia's second biggest city has better public transport access than the main airport in Australia's biggest city. Western Sydney also adds service before the airport becomes fully established to lock in travel habits early while Melbourne doesn't add service until decades later (if at all). 

The people who disproportionately bear the cost of this poor service are not airport travellers (who overwhelmingly only use the airport a few times a year and have a premium fare Skybus alternative) but airport workers, many of whom are not on particularly high incomes and live in surrounding suburbs.

Thus improved buses from Melbourne Airport is a bread-and-butter cost of living matter widening job opportunities and delivering real benefits to peoples' pockets. As distinct from Airport Rail whose direct network benefits, with the notable exception of a new station at Keilor East, are more symbolic and  harder to quantify.   

Cost-effective ways to provide better public transport to Melbourne Airport ahead of Airport Rail are outlined above. This would have benefits for visitors and (especially) airport precinct workers alike. They should be implemented as soon as possible given their relatively low cost, widespread benefits and ease of implementation. 

See other Useful Network items

New Public Transport Minister announced

 

New premier Ben Carroll is busy putting his stamp on the state Labor government he took the leadership of last week. After distancing himself from his predecessors ("I'm not Daniel Andrews. I'm not Jacinta Allan") his first action was to call a royal commission into construction industry corruption, something the previous premier refused to do. 

Mr Carroll has assembled his inner office and has started working outwards to the ministry and senior bureaucracy. An early sign of the finance people being back in charge was current DTF Secretary Chris Barrett moving across to head Premier and Cabinet. 

His new ministry is 2 people smaller than the one it replaced. And some portfolios have been removed. 

The new ministry

Appointed this morning. Colin Brooks (Bundoora MP) becomes Treasurer. Sonya Kilkenny loses Finance but keeps Planning and Attorney-General portfolios. 

Vicki Ward (Eltham MP) becomes the new Public Transport Minister after being responsible for Emergency Services. And Box Hill member Paul Hamer, who has an engineering background, picks up Roads and Road Safety. The new roles would be seen as promotions for both. 

Ms Ward replaces Gabrielle Williams who is elevated to become Deputy Premier and takes on Education. Mr Hamer replaces Ros Spence who gains Youth Justice and Corrections roles. 

Some titles have changed. Active Transport is dropped from a ministerial title. Transport Infrastructure and Suburban Rail Loop lose their separate ministerial roles. Though we have yet to see whether some of these get mentioned in Parliamentary Secretary titles. 

Broader context

In transport the capital intensive "it costs what it costs" Big Build Allanism appears to be winding down in favour of a financially tighter Bracks-like style. Of interest is that Transport Infrastructure and SRL do not feature in the new ministry as separate portfolio names.

Mr Carroll appears closer to Bracks than his immediate two predecessors and holds similar stricter attitudes with regards to budgets and borrowing. As a general guide, I get the sense that Steve Bracks would rather break a promise to save the budget whereas Daniel Andrews would rather break the budget to honour a promise. Much of this would have been a perceived need to build trust in Labor as responsible financial managers following the chaotic last few years of the Cain-Kirner government. 

Andrews famously said "We say what we do and do what we say". In 2022 I concluded there was a lot of truth in this based on 2014 promises. However Andrews was also not above raising and then dashing expectations when electoral opportunities beckoned, such as the pivot from the Western Rail Plan to SRL East, as documented by Kos Samaras here. While this delivered large victories in 2018 and 2022 it did not assist Labor's standing in the north and west, something that is high on Mr Carroll's agenda to restore.  

As for Steve Bracks, while he is universally loved across Labor, his government's record in metropolitan public transport was patchy with many 1999 transport promises broken, falling rail reliability, signing ill-advised myki and Southern Cross Station contracts and needless system rebranding. On the positive side there were restored and improved regional rail services and the biggest uplift in metropolitan bus services for at least 50 years. And under minister Peter Batchelor it made a hard decision on Eastlink tolling due to the need to rescue the collapsed metropolitan rail franchises signed by the previous government. 

Mr Carroll most differs from Bracks in the timing of when he became premier. Bracks came in as leader of a fresh, albeit minority, government that governed for over a decade. Mr Carroll comes in at what could be the end of a 12 year old government with an election just four months away.

Someone who is possibly a better parallel is WA's Carmen Lawrence. She was also the third premier in a long-term Labor government soured by corruption allegations. As well as coming to the role from the Education portfolio she also called a Royal Commission into what became known as 'WA Inc'. 


Challenges for the new minister

This is unlikely to be the season for future 'Big Build' projects, even though significant needs remain as Melbourne continues to grow. And there are pressures due to the government facing an election in less than four months. 

Instead emphasis is likely to be on making use of our existing assets and service improvements. This direction was to some extent set in the 2025 and 2026 State Budgets under previous minister Gabrielle Williams. But there's a huge backlog to catch up on given how much priorities were skewed against service for so long. 

I outlined some priorities for public transport under the Carroll government here.

Past blog posts on recent PT ministers 

The philosophy of 'Allanism'

Testing times for Minister Horne 

Challenges for Minister Carroll 

Welcoming Gabrielle Williams

[VIDEO] G Class Tram first day in service

This was yesterday 30 July 2026. 

Watch my video account of the first in-service trip from Essendon depot to the city below. 

 

UN 241: What might a 'new direction for government' look like in public transport?

 

On Tuesday, after the resignation of Jacinta Allan followed by a long Cabinet meeting, Ben Carroll emerged as Premier. Current transport minister Gabrielle Williams is his deputy. Election analyst Antony Green noted that that long-term three leader governments typically end in landslide victories for the opposition. However Jacinta Allan's polling as premier was so dire that even members of her own faction wanted a leadership change despite an election in just four months.  

Mr Carroll's first announcement was a royal commission into corruption in the construction industry, including major transport projects. The previous premier's resistance to that in the face of intense media and public interest was a major factor in her downfall. Integrity, community safety, economic management and restoring strained business confidence are other priorities of the new premier. 

The future of major projects

The government has budgetary issues too. It has to be selective with regards to what and how it builds. As well as potentially making unpopular revenue and fiscal decisions. 

Mr Carroll is widely regarded as being an internal critic of the Suburban Rail Loop but a supporter of Airport Rail. Especially after he got a Keilor East station added to the latter's plans to improve access to a poorly served part of his seat. My views on Airport Rail's comparative value here. 

As for the Suburban Rail Loop East, works are well under way, contracts signed and tunnelling about to begin. The Herald Sun has said the new premier will order a "sweeping review of the SRL" while The Age says he will "consider alterations". However Mr Carroll also said that he "was going to be a premier who doesn't break contracts". 

Transport policy under this government has been driven by Project 10000, a make-work scheme to create 10000 construction sector jobs through major projects, as opposed to the execution of a plan based on a careful assessment of needs. This was likely a reaction against the previous Coalition government that was widely seen as building little in its four years. 

 Back in 2020 I described this as 'Allanism', named after then then Transport Minister and later premier. This was a stance that emphasised 'Big Build' capital works over efficient asset utilisation and service provision (and for that matter a host of smaller high-BCR capital works projects). It is distinctively different to similar large transport construction agendas in Sydney and Perth as these cities also got large public transport service increases and some smaller projects like bus reform.  

The Carroll premiership will likely involve a policy reset. Indeed that's the expectation given the sudden leadership change after a period of internal dissatisfaction.  

The cavalier Andrews/Allan "things cost what they cost" attitude may give way to a more watchful stance. If for no other reason that the interest bill from project-based borrowing is cramping the state's ability to deliver services. That's not just in transport but also health, education and community services etc. On the other hand the government has an election to win so it needs to move fast, something not always conducive to good decision making. 

A pivot to reform, asset utilisation and service?

There are just sixteen weeks to go to the state election. There are even fewer weeks until 'caretaker period' starts. A government seeking a 'new direction' may wish to get as much advice as they can from their departments (noting the complication of some, including in the transport portfolio, going through the Silver staffing cuts). 

In some cases planning work might have already been done and merely require some dusting off to update it to current circumstances. Politicians can only juggle a few balls at once. Much work done by departments never gets implemented. Especially if they have had periods of being headed by people whose skill sets have been something other than winning support and selling ideas.  

It is also retrospectively clear that premier Andrews had no love for buses. As MP since 2002 he achieved nothing for Route 800 right past his office through the heart of the Mulgrave electorate, for example. This was even during the Bracks-Brumby era when thousands of extra services per week were being added on other routes.  

Jacinta Allan, his first transport minister, also turned out to lack interest in substantial metropolitan bus network reform, despite this being essential to get the most from buses in a budget constrained environment. Although some of that averseness to risk may be due to Labor's slim margin prior to the 2018 election. 

Regional trains and buses got upgrades but metropolitan trains and tram timetables largely did not with a planned 2015 greenfield Metro rail timetable not proceeding. Sydney meanwhile, under transport minister Berejiklian, was upgrading rail service levels  rapidly with maximum waits at most stations cut from 30 to 15 minutes in the new 2017 timetable.  

The next minister, Melissa Horne, was too inexperienced and not in the role long enough to significantly change the policy course for buses. 

Ben Carroll the minister after that, did want to reform buses, with Victoria's Bus Plan launched in June 2021. Things were initially promising but there were media reports that he was one of those ministers in Daniel Andrews' "freezer". Expectations were raised pre-2022 election only to be dashed after the election with regards to major publicly announced bus network reviews for Melbourne's north, north-east and Mildura. However some minor but worthwhile metropolitan rail frequency boosts on some lines happened in early 2021. 

The 2023 and 2024 state budgets saw little extra for bus and rail services though there has been acceleration of progress on both in the next two budgets under the next minister Gabrielle Williams. In terms of benefits versus cost there is little that is better value in public transport than continued train and bus service increases on main routes though more bravery on greenfield train timetables and bus network reform is needed to optimise 'bang for buck'.  

The 2025 and 2026 budget measures for metropolitan bus and train services were good for what they were. However they come following previous budgets which did very little for the service side (and for that matter some small scale but cost-effective capital works projects). So there's a huge backlog to catch up on. 

Seven new directions for public transport (that don't cost a fortune)

What could a "new direction for government" mean in the transport portfolio? Some possibilities here:

* A renewed emphasis on a large number of highly impactful walking and cycling improvements across the state. 

* 20 and then 10 minute maximum waits on increasing parts of the Metro Train network to give real meat to "Switching on the Big Build". Craigieburn line (very busy and near the premier's seat) followed by Ringwood (busy and marginal seats), Mernda (growth area line) and Werribee (growth area line) should be high priorities. Along with Wyndham Vale and Melton (weekends) service boosts for V/Line ahead of electrification. The 2025 and 2026 state budgets have already set the ball rolling here but much more is needed. 

* Regaining control of fare evasion, something that previous recent government have let get out of hand, especially for buses. Credit/debit card payment now possible on all buses make compliance easier. Another way to optimise ridership while protecting the system's revenue base is to move to more progressive fares across the staet, ie short trips are cheaper and long trips are dearer (though still very cheap). This could tie in to financial management and law and order agendas. 

* Revving up bus network reform. Though not necessarily as per the Bus Reform Implementation Approach. For example reform could be done by identifying major 10 and 20 minute frequency corridors and reforming surrounding routes to make this more economical. The more reform is done the more consistently frequent corridors you can have without buying more buses.

* Upgrades to existing direct bus routes. Most notably operating hours and weekend frequencies such as desirable for retail and hospitality workers. Again the 2025 and 2026 state budgets have made a start. High priority routes are listed here.

* Transport to Melbourne Airport is a renewed priority, especially for airport workers. Keilor East transport could be upgraded ahead of Airport Rail. Concepts for that here and here. 

 * Frequent SRL precursor orbital buses. Regardless of the outcome of any work to examine the Suburban Rail Loop, it is undeniable that high frequency orbital bus routes would be a high priority and a precursor to and subsequent feeder to the SRL. Examples could include (i) Sunshine - Melbourne Airport - Broadmeadows - Greensborough - Doncaster and (ii) Doncaster - Box Hill - Oakleigh - Southland - Sandringham. Early introduction of these could bring forward some of SRL's benefits. 

Such a major route along with a 'frequent network' for more main road bus routes, frequency boosts on key train lines and selected train and tram extensions and infrastructure improvements could well be the ingredients of adjusted transport priorities under a new premier.  

See other Useful Network items

TT 236: Bus Route 536 Glenroy - Gowrie first day of Sunday service

One of the many Melbourne bus routes that have been without Sunday service is the 536 between Glenroy and Gowrie. Linking the Craigieburn and Upfield lines it provides the only public transport for a large section of northern Glenroy that was once known as Gowrie Park. 

The area has social and public housing with significant numbers of people on low incomes. Route 536 has above average passenger boardings per hour. Similar to Route 800 it was a privately operated route whose services were greatly reduced in the early 1990s. These reductions included a removal of Sunday and/or after 7pm service on many bus routes.  

More information about the 536 bus here.

Many bus routes got extended operating hours during the MOTC bus upgrade program of 2006 but a significant number, including some popular routes, did not. Notable examples include the Route 800 in Dandenong and the 536 in Glenroy. 

Both routes had community campaigns advocating 7 day service. Route 800 was upgraded in 2024 with a strong increase in usage. Sunday 26 July 2026 was Route 536's turn. The new timetable features: 

* Extended operating hours including earlier morning starts, and evenings extended to about 11pm Monday to Saturday. 
* A new Sunday service with buses every 40 minutes to approximately 10pm. 
* A simplification of the route with the alternating Bourchier/Evell St part of the route standardised so that all trips operate via Evell St. 

There was also a change in the weekday midday frequency. Instead of a flat 30 minutes it went to an alternating 25/35 min pattern, presumably to optimise connections with trains every 20 minutes. The ideal of course would be a 20 min frequency, such as ran up to the early 1990s, to harmonise with trains (also every 20 minutes). 

The video below was from the first day of Sunday service on the 536. You'll see what's along the route and hear an interview with Kathleen Matthews-Ward MP on the difference the upgraded service will make and what's in store.

26/7/2026 was significant for other bus upgrades too. For example Route 511, an occasional service to the growth area of Beveridge, got service increased to every 40 minutes seven days.

Also introduced were two new routes - 405 between Brimbank Shopping Centre, Cairnlea and Deer Park and 451 between Cobblebank and Thornhill Park. Both are every 20 min on weekdays so now appear on my updated weekday public transport frequency map.

As well all buses were accepting credit/debit card payment, completing the metropolitan roll-out across train, tram and bus. This will make travel easier for non-regular passengers, including those who wish to go from Melbourne Airport to the city for under $3. 

See other Timetable Tuesday items here

Contactless Tap and Go across all buses starts today (with big benefits for airport travellers)

As noted last week, today marks the day that all bus routes in Melbourne will be accepting credit and debit card full fare payment. This adds buses to trains and trams that have already been transitioned over. 

The benefits for buses are particularly high. Myki worked well for regular train commuters. Every Metro station had a card vending and top up machine. Regular commuting was a frequent and habitual activity and the one-off $6 Myki card purchase cost was neither here nor there. 

Buses though were different. They attract a different mix of trips, including those that are not frequently made. People wishing to travel might not have a Myki card, and even if they did the ability to top up on a bus was removed during the pandemic and not reinstated since. So bus fare evasion went through the roof and the government appeared to both deny and do nothing about the problem. All while depressing bus usage amongst honest but occasional travellers who did not have a Myki. Trams had similar issues though they serve inner suburbs more likely to have a train station or Myki retail outlet nearby. 

All that is now a thing of the past with passengers how having a credit and debit card payment option for full fare passengers. Concession travel capability will happen later but even now they have the benefit of a payment option (even if full fare) if they leave their Myki at home. 

Getting to and especially from Melbourne Airport will be a major benefit of enabling contactless payment on buses. While the half price fares remain (for rest of 2026) it will be possible to get to the city for under $3 via a regular bus and train combination. It's slower than Skybus but the $23 saving might still make it an attractive option for some.

It's not very well marketed and the bus leaves from an interchange arriving passengers won't see unless they know where to go. This is why I was pleased to talk to the ABC's Charlie Pickering during the week to tell listeners about this cut price option that credit/debit card payment will make easier to use. 

For more detail, including where to find the interchange at Melbourne Airport, watch this one. 

Melbourne Airport to City for under $3!

Get from Melbourne Airport to the city for just $3 via a 15 minute bus ride that not even many locals know about! 

With tap and go credit/debit card payment enabled from today this bus-train option is easier than ever - no myki card required. 

Learn more in this interview with Charlie Pickering on ABC Radio.

Detail on the actual trip and finding the bus interchange here.

UN 240: The Suburban Rail Loop's Bus Problem

Executive summary: The state government risks setting the Suburban Rail Loop up to fail if it takes advice from a planning committee that has a poor understanding of the bus services needed to effectively get people to its stations. It should instead heed those with an understanding of multimodal public transport planning to be assured of maximising the patronage and mode shift benefits of the SRL.     

An expert committee set up to advise the Planning Minister on the Suburban Rail Loop and its precincts has published a series of reports on certain topics of importance to the role and success of the project.

SRL East Precincts Standing Advisory Committee 

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny referred several matters to the Suburban Rail Loop East Precincts Standing Advisory Committee (SRLEPSAC) in July 2025. 

One of those matters is mode shift. Which is effectively SRL's ability or otherwise to transform transport from being driving-dominated to a pattern that is more multi-modal with higher shares for public and active transport. 

The Committee includes one Lead Chair, nine (!) Deputy Chairs and fourteen other members. They are heavily drawn from urban planning and legal backgrounds with a few engineers thrown in. Many have worked for local government or as private consultants. However public transport operations or planning backgrounds appear rarer, something that may be influential as you'll see later.  

It has published nine reports so far. This includes overarching reports for (a) Summary and approach, (b) Common issues and (c) General matters plus specific reports for each of the six proposed SRL stations. 

These reports give an idea on official thinking and advice to the Planning Minister. So they need to be scrutinised for rigour and appropriateness, especially as their subject matter includes transport planning.

I'll review the General Matters report later after setting the scene. 

Transport and planning policy development

While by name a transport project the state government has stressed that the Suburban Rail Loop is as much if not more about planning and housing (relevant 25/7/2026 Age article here). 

Possibly because bringing in the planning dimension allows potential land use changes and value uplifts that (some hope) could part fund SRL through value capture. The housing element taps into current concerns about a tight and expensive rental market. And reframing SRL as a broader project subverts critics who regards it as poor value from a purely transport perspective. 

The recent megaproject era also coincides with some change in policy thinking. This is exemplified by the merging of the Planning and Transport departments (as DTP) and the preference for transport to be planned in a wider context. 

Hence specific rail, tram and bus plans have withered. They have struggled to attract substantial funding despite tens of billions going to stand-alone 'Big Build' infrastructure projects. There is also no overarching transport plan, something the Auditor-General noted as a Transport Integration Act requirement in 2021. Instead some transport themes (such as the publication of a map of strategic bus corridors) will be picked up in the broader Plan for Victoria.

If this approach drives DTP organisational structures, there is a chance that the staff resourcing for individual modal planning relative to broader precincts planning might change as the department faces pressure to deliver Silver Review cost savings.

If poorly done this poses risks including a loss of internal transport planning expertise and capacity to implement the greenfield rail timetables and bus network reform still needed to realise Big Build benefits. A DTP that is big but weak also risks it having insights that do not sufficiently flow to major projects such as the SRL.  

The Transport Integration Act 2010 is relevant here. Points that stand out include efficiency, seamless travel within and between modes, integrated decision making and the user experience. 

Inside the General Issues Report

Of most interest is SRLEPSAC's General Issues Report. Mode shift gets about 20 pages. 

I was particularly interested in what it said about access to stations (important if they are to get much use since there are only six on a 26km long line) and the role of various transport modes to enable this.

Bus services already good - no improvements needed?

The first mention of buses comes on page 15 of the General Issues report.   

In principle they like the early delivery of bus transport and infrastructure improvements. 

BUT

Without evidence the Committee asserts that "many of the precincts are already particularly well served by well-established bus networks".

Essentially they are saying is that buses around the SRL stations already pretty good. And that it's not worth investing more in them to deliver mode shift. So it was preferable to direct resources to active transport instead.  

There is no doubt active transport is important, should be improved and that its returns per dollar spent are high (likely more than the SRL itself). The same goes for bus reform. You'll get some benefits from an SRL without bus upgrades but they are limited. Add bus reform and the benefits multiply.

If you were given a choice of three projects (a) SRL only, (b) SRL plus bus reform or (c) bus reform only, no SRL then the case for the last two could be argued but there are no circumstances that an SRL only would represent good value. Essentially upgraded buses is a necessary condition for SRL to succeed with analysis by Mohan Wadia available here.

SRLEPSAC's view is basically the opposite. They don't see buses as an important part of the SRL project. Their comments about the areas around the SRL stations being "particularly well served" by buses are only tenable if they looked at a bus network map, counted the routes and were content at that. As opposed to examining matters such as route directness, operating hours, frequency and legibility to get a fairer assessment. 

If the learned planners who comprise SRLEPSAC did not deign to examine timetables for their widespread hour gaps or (horrors!) try riding some buses, they could have checked recent analysis from reputable sources for an informed view on the bus network.  

Indeed Victorian government agencies outside the SRL silo were continually churning out material indicating the need for improved bus services from 2021. Examples include:  

* 2021: Victoria's Bus Plan
* 2022 Announcement of major bus network reform (which in this form later got shelved)
* 2023 Infrastructure Victoria report on buses 
* 2024 Detailed bus network analysis by DTP and consultants with this tabled in Parliament 
* 2026 VAGO performance audit on bus planning

All revealed serious problems but also great opportunities for a revived bus network, many at low cost.  This is directly relevant to the SRL East because, with only 6 stations along its 26km length, many will need to rely on feeder transport such as buses to reach stations (remembering there will be no extra car parking and many live beyond both rail and convenient active transport reach of the SRL stations).

Potential for bus network patronage growth (which addresses both SRL station access and the mode shift question) was further expressed in a speech by then department Secretary Paul Younis who suggested that reformed buses across Melbourne had potential to carry as many people as trams. 

Real world evidence of such growth exists too. Route 800 Saturday usage rose 200% when its previously limited timetable was upgraded. And routes such as 733 and 767 (both of which serve SRL stations) had strong ridership increases when their services were modestly increased to 15-20 min on weekdays and 30-40 minutes on weekends in 2023. 

Additional rail (such as SRL) can increase rather than reduce bus trip making due to increased connection opportunities. This is demonstrated in cities such as London where, despite large Tube and Overground systems, bus ridership exceeds either individually. Versus the Melbourne case where, despite their much larger catchment area, bus ridership is lower than either trams or Metro trains. 

That the SRLEPSAC appeared so uninformed about the bus network and its potential for mode shift either indicates a lack of rigour leading to potentially poor advice to the minister. The result could be decisions (eg underprovisions for fast direct bus routes and poor interchanges) that result in the SRL failing to deliver its potential network benefits as part of the connected transport system envisaged in the Transport Integration Act. 

Bus infrastructure

The committee report considers bus infrastructure.

This could include matters such as bus stops being located as near as possible to SRL (and other) stations, sufficient capacity for expected service levels (even if not all provided immediately), convenient stop locations in the SRL area (noting that catchments can be 1.6km from stations) and, critically, provision for efficient through routes in multiple directions with strong bus priority.

The latter is extremely important and often overlooked; interchanges that require a bus to backtrack (eg Glen Waverley currently for key routes) waste thousands of hours that is better spent speeding travel and increasing service frequency. 

There is only one good answer to the last point about early delivery of bus infrastructure - yes! Because if it is not delivered first-up it never gets done. Which puts a permanent choke on the capacity and catchment of SRL stations and thus the SRL's usage and mode shift potential. Those wishing to take advantage of the SRL's activity centres to live a convenient low-car life are also affected if buses to surrounding local destinations are substandard.  

Bus infrastructure requires some idea of a future bus network to define some high capacity corridors. This part under 8.6.3 identifies work done. 

So far so good. Until we get to this, which immediately follows:

Mr Gnanakone is a professional traffic engineer and transport planner. Earlier he said that it was critical that active transport improvements be delivered early to achieve mode share targets. He was also supportive of early bus network improvements. However he warned that the timing for most bus improvement works was medium to long term, and even after SRL East was operational.

This should not be regarded as an inevitability; a benefit of buses is their ability to respond quickly and scale up to changing travel needs so it is purely a political choice that bus service upgrades and network reform have historically been so slow with multi-decade lags in some cases.  

Unfortunately the Committee does not take Mr Gnanakone's advice regarding the need for early delivery of bus upgrades on board. They are pretty soft, saying it is merely desirable rather than an essential of equal if not greater importance than the SRL itself. 

As noted before SRLEPSAC (wrongly in my view) thinks the existing bus network is fine and overlooks the need to make provision for the sort of fast and frequent bus networks SRL stations will need. 

I agree with Mr Gnanakone about timing of bus improvements. Buses should be upgraded as precursors to the SRL, not as something that *might* be done afterwards. Only this sequencing can bring forward SRL benefits early and maximise mode shift. 

Although opex-heavy bus is often pitted against capex-heavy rail in either/or debates, my more nuanced position is this: 

a. Bus reform on its own has big benefits and is cheap.  

b. New rail with bus reform has even bigger benefits but is dearer.  

c. New rail without bus reform is poor value for money.

There are thus no circumstances in which c makes sense, yet this is what seems to be recommended. The Committee's stance is a bit like skipping the main meal and going straight for the dessert; you're insufficiently nourished. 

Conclusion

It is concerning that the Suburban Rail Loop East has a committee of planning experts, intended to advise the minister on matters such as transport mode shift, that apparently: 

* Thinks that existing bus services are good enough ('particularly well-served' in their words)
* Has not considered others' analysis and policy eg DTP's Bus Plan, IV or VAGO reports
* Does not see buses as an essential means to get people to SRL stations or a contributor to mode shift
* Has rejected advice from transport professionals on the importance of bus access 

If this committee's advice on buses is followed then the SRL risks being a stand-alone project poorly connected to feeder transport that does not deliver anywhere near the patronage or mode shift possible if a more connected multimodal approach was taken. 

The Committee may well be good at town planning but for buses (and other SRL feeder modes) both the Planning and Transport ministers might do well to seek advice from elsewhere. 

As a reminder their General (and other) papers can be read here. 

See other Useful Network items

TT 235: Bus frequency of frequencies and the weekend cliff

Last week I graphed the frequency of Melbourne bus routes at midday weekdays, aided by data from Adam Bain's Frequency Finder. 

Matching the common reputation of Melbourne buses, this graph showed that just 7 out of over 350 routes ran every 10 minutes or better while a further 18 ran every 15 minutes. More ran every 20 minutes but the vast majority were still every 30 or 40 minutes. 

However that data didn't tell us whether weekday peak service is much better than off-peak. Or how weekends fare. 

Fortunately Adam has since added peak and weekend charts to his item on bus route numbers. So I'm back to look at what these tell us about the frequency of bus frequencies at these times. 

Weekends (every 40 minutes is king)

Below shows number of bus routes in each frequency band at midday. It's like the graph last week but I've added Saturdays and Sundays plus a 'No service' grouping. 

You will notice that while the 31 - 60 minute grouping was tallest on weekdays there was still a substantial number of routes in the 21 - 30 and 16 - 20 minute frequency bands. 

That is not so on weekends. On Saturday and (especially) Sunday most frequent and semi-frequent weekday bus routes become infrequent. That introduces an inconsistency of service that is not present with trams and trains.  

For example on Saturdays the 31 - 60 minute column is five times taller than the next. This overwhelmingly comprises routes either every 40 or 60 minutes. Even semi-frequent service is rare on Sundays, with barely 10% of the total (or 38 routes) operating every 30 minutes or better versus nearly double that (78) not operating at all. For some reason the 901 and 902 orbitals (nominally every 30 min) made the 31 - 60 minute grouping on Sunday, possibly due to a slightly uneven timetable. 

Personally I'd have split the 31 to 60 minute groupings so that 40 and 60 minute frequencies were in different ranges. If this was done you would find that 40 minute column is tallest, ie it becomes the mode (ie most common) off-peak frequency for Melbourne's buses. This would likely apply on both weekdays and weekends though there are routes that are every 40 min on weekdays but 60 min on weekends, especially Sundays. 

Be aware that this generalised data also doesn't tell us the very large differences between routes. On some service levels collapse between weekdays and weekends, others are frequent Monday to Saturday, collapsing on Sundays while a third group run the same frequency all week.

Examples of routes (that mostly but not always have legacy timetables) with sharp weekend frequency falls include 410, 472, 828 and even the new 241. All these drop to one-third or one-quarter weekday frequencies on weekends, particularly on Sundays. 

Drops to half frequency are common on most SmartBuses that drop from every 15 to every 30 minutes on weekends. Similar applies to new or upgraded growth area routes in Craigieburn, Diggers Rest, Melton, Mt Atkinson, Cairnlea and Clyde where every 20 minutes weekday, 40 minutes weekend is the standard pattern.  

Conversely some of the newer or recently upgraded Wyndham area routes (eg 153, 154 and 182) have their flat 20 minute frequency operating 7 days to late with no weekend service 'cliff'. Similar (but at lower service level) applies in areas such as Pakenham and Mornington where a flat hourly service all week is the norm as can be seen from Adam's new interactive interchange and service map (with context here). 

Peaks (a little better than interpeak)

If midday weekends get far fewer buses than midday weekdays, what happens during the weekday peaks? This is the most challenging time to run buses, especially in the morning where school and commuter peaks coincide. Traffic volumes also make for longer or more variable run times, making it harder to schedule efficient yet reliable timetables. The graph below is the previous one with peak columns added for each frequency range. 

The range of frequencies operated in peak is flatter than midday weekdays and (especially) weekends. Most notably there is a substantial number of routes operating in the three 16 - 60 minute frequency ranges with 30 minutes being a fairly average frequency. However this is not quite 'turn up and go' with  only a lucky few enjoying 10 or 15 minute peak frequencies.

Many bus routes in established areas had higher peak frequencies prior to large service cuts in the early 1990s. Many have gained (or had restored) evening and weekend service but not all peak service has yet been restored. This goes some way to explaining why about 100 bus routes are still infrequent in the peaks.

Like with weekends there are variations. A welcome new trend on some new growth area routes (eg 154, 405, 451 and 475) is to run a 20 minute frequency peak and off-peak. In contrast some earlier routes (eg 150, 160, 182, 494, 495, 497 etc) have a ~20 min peak service but only a 40 minute off-peak service. The fact that these rate amongst the most productive bus routes in Melbourne make a 20 minute off-peak frequency a better fit. 

A few routes are listed as having no service in both weekday peaks and midday periods. The former are shopper type routes that don't run peaks while the latter are commuter peak only routes. 

A table showing the numbers in the above graph is below. 

Trams (the mode is the service)

Trams have a distinctive operating culture including operating over long hours and at generally high frequencies all week in a manner that buses do not. This is made graphic below (Sunday shown as a 'worst case' - better views of this and other days here). 

The diagram shows that all trams run every 10-15 min (or better) during the day all week (with lower Sunday morning frequencies). No buses have 10 minute maximum waits (white bar). And just 4 (out of over 350) have 15 minute maximum midday waits across the week. These are buses 234, 246, 905 and 907. 

The graphic doesn't analyse evening frequencies but if it did trams would look even better. Whereas trams have a maximum evening wait of 20 minute Monday - Saturdays, the figure for the above four routes is 30 minutes with 234 and 246 finishing much earlier on Sunday than trams. 

Buses 234, 246, 905 and 907 are the only ones that have somewhat tram-like frequencies on all days of the week. All are east or south of Melbourne CBD, none north or west (apart from part of 246). The one bus that offers a tram equal service is the small segment of the 732 between Vermont South and Knox City that was instituted to partly meet a 1999 political promise to extend the 75 tram to Knox City.  

This consistently high service is a major contributing factor to why the tram network, despite it serving only a small part of Melbourne, carries tens of millions more people per year than buses, which serve  millions more homes. With wide hours, decent daytime frequencies and a rarely broken 20 minute maximum wait*, trams have a sort of dependability built into the timetable that Melbourne buses lack. This regular service induces more routine usage for a wide variety of trips that buses could have but don't due to their often more limited hours and frequency. 

The tram/bus inequality demonstrates the significant gaps between inner/tram and middle-outer/bus suburbs in their public transport provision. This includes busy middle-suburban destinations (eg Box Hill/Chadstone/Monash) and denser outer areas (eg Tarneit and Craigieburn) that strongly justify frequent tram-like bus service all week compared to their existing back-street type service levels, particularly on weekends. 

 (*) Sunday mornings and evenings excepted. 

Trains (mostly every 20 minutes BUT)

Adam's analysis did not assess trains but there's not many lines so I made a frequency of frequency table for completeness (excluding peaks due to complex stopping patterns on some lines). 

There is overwhelmingly a concentration of service around every 20 minutes midday. Unlike buses, there is no pronounced weekend service fall-off on most lines. Indeed Belgrave and Lilydale enjoy better midday weekend service (every 20 min) than on weekdays (every 30 min). 

Why are 21 lines shown when our metropolitan rail network has only 15? Firstly I've included the two heavily outer suburban Geelong and Melton lines. Secondly I've doubled up on lines like Sunbury, Hurstbridge, Belgrave/Lilydale and Pakenham/Cranbourne that have outer suburban branches or frequency fall offs to convey a fairer impression of frequency much of their catchments have.

The data behind the graph is below. 

Metropolitan train stations mostly (but not always) have a 'safety net' 20 maximum wait, at least during the day. The major exceptions are Belgrave and Lilydale on weekdays and Melton on weekends with 30 and 40 minute gaps respectively. The quieter outer part of the Hurstbridge line also has a lower service.  

The biggest gap between trams and trains are the latter's 30 (and sometimes 40) minute intervals at nights and on Sunday mornings. 2025 and 2026 state budget measures will go part way to closing these gaps to 20 minutes on the Craigieburn and Upfield lines (all times), Mernda and inner Hurstbridge (weekends) and Belgrave, Lilydale, Alamein and Glen Waverley (weeknights). There has so far been no commitment to closing the 30 minute weekday gaps for Belgrave and Lilydale and the 40 minute weekend gaps for Melton. 

Summary

This data says several things about buses in Melbourne. The typical route runs every 30 minutes in peak and about every 40 minutes off-peak. Many Melbourne bus timetables have a weekend cliff where services are much less on weekends than weekdays with a significant minority still not running seven days.

In addition there is not a large defined group of frequent all week routes with similar service levels to trams. Instead only a handful run frequently seven days with the most common pattern being frequent weekdays and infrequent weekends, particularly Sundays.

Melbourne's lack of a premium bus network of maybe 50 main road bus routes operating at tram-like frequencies seven days (as proposed in the Bus Reform implementation approach that the Auditor-General said was unachievable at the current rate of progress) remains (along with low all day frequencies on certain train lines) the biggest block on patronage growth. 

The steep service drop-offs show that lack of bus vehicles is not the problem; rather it is the lack of a will to work them harder for more of the week due to recruiting too few drivers. And in some areas there is also significant scope to make better use of existing bus and driver hours by simplifying routes and removing inefficient overlaps.

Attention to these service matters would transform public transport's usefulness in ways that the 'Big Build' so far has not in most suburbs.  

See other Timetable Tuesday items here

SPECIAL: When is your bus going contactless?

On Thursday the state government announced the date of contactless payment 'tap and go' roll-out on Melbourne buses. That date is Sunday 26 July 2026 for everything with some starting tomorrow on the 19th. 

This is a big deal because tap and go makes payment for bus travel easy for any full fare payer with a credit or debit card. Trains and trams have already been contactless for some weeks prior. 

Contactless will remove a significant barrier for spontaneous trips. Right now there is a need to find a Myki outlet, buy a card ($6 before any travel), add some value and then keep it topped up. 

You forfeit the card cost if not making any more trips. And claiming refunds on unused balances is a hassle. Even worse was that buses stopped doing cash top-ups during the pandemic and never resumed them after. Myki's clunkiness (along with relatively high fares for some short trips and insanely cheap V/Line fares) even undermined the social licence of charging and enforcing fares in some peoples' minds. 

Admittedly Android users could have 'Mobile Myki'. But some people prefer to keep their finances and phones separate for security and budgeting reasons so that was never a complete solution. Not to mention it being unavailable for iPhone.  

Summing up, Myki worked well for regular rail commuters but was inconvenient for spontaneous bus and tram travel. Myki arguably depressed both the number and character of bus users. Honest people who were willing to pay but found this inconvenient avoided buses while its inconvenience hardened some into habitual fare evaders who faced little resistance with lax enforcement.

The seeds of this were sown by an early decision in the Myki specification to have expensive to produce cardboard smartcards rather than cheap paper for disposable tickets. After their trial in Geelong (and elsewhere) the former was not proceeded with when the previous government descoped Myki. 

Contactless Tap and Go promises to fix that by restoring an easy payment option across all modes that we haven't really had since cash fares. Trains were first, then trams, and now it's the turn for buses with a phased roll-out. When it's done you'll be able to travel without buying and keeping topped up a Myki card.

An example benefit is being able to travel from Melbourne Airport to the city for under $3, as I discussed with ABC's Charlie Pickering on Thursday 16 July (approx 6 min in). 

Concession passengers should continue to use Myki to get the cheapest fares. Contactless roll-out for concession passengers is complicated as the Auditor-General reported. Though the temporary halving of fares means that general concession payers using contactless to pay full fare are paying the same they did earlier in the year.     

A staged roll-out

The media release places greatest prominence in the 26 July date as this is the one when the roll-out will be complete across all buses. However it lists certain areas that will get Tap and Go a week earlier, ie 19 July.

This advice is safe and simple for the average person. But transport geeks and early adopters will want to know route number level of detail. Especially as it's a bit more nuanced with some services going live sooner. 

You will find this information in a special edition of the Victoria Government Gazette. More precisely No. S 409 Thursday 16 July 2026. From this we learn that roll-out will be by four dates: 19, 21, 24 and 26 July, with this largely ordered by operator.

I've listed the roll-out below with route numbers given for services in the metropolitan series. 

19 July 2026 implementation

Bus routes in Bacchus Marsh, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Kilmore, Latrobe Valley, Seymour, Warragul. 

Metropolitan numbered routes: 433, 434, 452. 475, 481, 483, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 683, 684, 685, 789, 790, 791, 792, 795, 796, 798, 799, 881, 890, 891, 892, 893, 894, 895, 897, 898 and 965. 

The above are run by operators including Christians Bus, CDC, Cranbourne Transit, McHarrys, McKenzies Tourist Services, Sunbury Coaches and more. 

21 July 2026 implementation

150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 160, 161, 166, 167, 170, 180, 181, 182, 190, 191, 192, 194, 241, 301, 343, 356, 357, 358, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 400, 402, 404, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 414, 415, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 427, 428, 431, 432, 439, 441, 443, 444, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 465, 467, 468, 469, 471, 472, 476, 477, 478, 479, 482, 484, 490, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 501, 511, 513, 514, 517, 518, 524, 525, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 536, 537, 538, 540, 541, 542, 543, 544, 554, 555, 556, 557, 559, 561, 564, 566, 569, 570, 577, 578, 579, 580, 582, 601, 605, 606, 612, 623, 624, 625, 626, 630, 941, 943, 947, 949 and Flexiride Rowville, Lilydale, Croydon, Mooroolbark and Melton South.

The above are run by operators including CDC, Dysons, Transit Systems and Ventura. 

24 July 2026 implementation

200, 207, 215, 216, 220, 223, 232, 234, 235, 236, 237, 246, 250, 251, 270, 271, 273, 279, 280, 281, 282, 284, 285, 293, 295, 302, 303, 304, 305, 309, 318, 350, 364, 370, 426, 429, 503, 504, 505, 506, 508, 509, 510, 512, 546, 552, 553, 558, 567, 600, 603, 604, 609, 668, 669, 901, 902, 903, 905, 906, 907, 908, 922 and 923.

The above are run by Kinetic. 

26 July 2026 implementation

201, 526, 527, 548, 549, 550, 551, 627, 631, 663, 664, 670, 671, 672, 675, 677, 679, 680, 681, 682, 688, 689, 690, 691, 693, 694, 695, 695F, 696, 697, 699, 701, 703, 704, 705, 706, 708, 709, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 740, 742, 745, 753, 754, 755, 757, 758, 760, 765, 766, 767, 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 787, 788, 800, 802, 804, 811, 812, 813, 814, 816, 822, 823, 824, 825, 828, 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840, 841, 842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848, 850, 857, 858, 861, 862, 863, 885, 886, 887, 888, 889, 899, 900, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929, 951, 953, 959, 967, 978, 979, 981 and 982.

The above are run by Ventura (partly in 900's case). 

That's the sequence of contactless tap and go roll-out according to Victoria Government Gazette. The big date, as announced, is Sunday July 26th but roll-out on many routes has been gazetted for the days prior. Happy tapping!