Melbourne's Bus Network Is a Policy Failure — Here's How to Fix It

The Most Cost-Effective Transport Investment We’re Not Making

Released Department of Transport documents (September 2024) revealed that transformational bus reform — buses every 10 minutes on a 1.6km grid throughout Melbourne — was recommended by the Department and rejected by Cabinet in 2023.

The cost: approximately $500 million per year.

For context: the West Gate Tunnel costs $6.7 billion. The Level Crossing Removal Program costs $15 billion+. The Metro Tunnel costs $13 billion.

For the price of one toll road tunnel, we could fund 13 years of the single most cost-effective transport reform the state’s own experts have identified.

The Bus Paradox

Buses are the most flexible and cost-effective mode of public transport:

• Flexibility: Buses can be rerouted, frequencies adjusted, and networks restructured without laying a single metre of track
• Cost: Bus infrastructure costs pennies on the dollar compared to rail
• Coverage: Buses can reach areas that rail cannot serve economically
• Speed: With priority lanes and signal priority, buses can be faster than cars

Yet Melbourne’s bus network is chronically underfunded, infrequent, unreliable, and poorly integrated with the rest of the transport network.

The Reform That’s Needed

A comprehensive bus reform for Melbourne means:

1. The 10-Minute Grid

A 1.6km grid of bus routes across metropolitan Melbourne, each running at 10-minute headways or better, 7 days a week, 6 AM to midnight. This is the Department’s own recommendation.

2. Bus Priority Infrastructure

Dedicated bus lanes on major corridors, signal priority at intersections, and priority boarding at key interchanges. Buses should be faster than cars on their routes, not stuck in the same traffic they’re meant to alleviate.

3. Integration With Rail

Every bus route should feed into the rail network at logical interchange points. Timetables should be coordinated (or better, frequencies should be high enough that coordination is unnecessary).

4. Night Network

Buses are essential for shift workers who can’t rely on train services outside peak hours. A Night Network bus grid would be transformative for hospitality, healthcare, and logistics workers.

The Cost of Inaction

Every year we delay bus reform:

• More households are forced into car ownership they can’t afford
• More congestion on roads that could be relieved by frequent buses
• More transport poverty in growth corridors
• More emissions from avoidable car trips

The Department of Transport has done the analysis. The reform is costed. What’s missing isn’t analysis or costings. Cabinet already has those. What’s missing is a government willing to treat buses as a serious mode of transport rather than a cheaper line item to cut.