SmartBus
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| Overview | |||
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| Locale | Melbourne | ||
| Transit type | Bus | ||
| Number of lines | 9 (including 3 Orbital and 4 DART) | ||
| Website | SmartBus at PTV | ||
| Operation | |||
| Operator(s) |
CDC Melbourne Transdev Melbourne Ventura Bus Lines |
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SmartBus map and routes at Public Transport Victoria
SmartBus is a network of bus services in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Overseen by Public Transport Victoria, the network comprises nine key cross-town and orbital bus routes around Melbourne. Key aspects of the service include more frequent services, extended hours of operation to include late evening and Sunday services, improved timetable information at bus stops, roadspace priority along certain routes and priority at particular traffic lights. The SmartBus network was expected to reach 370 kilometres by 2012.
SmartBus was originally a policy initiative of the Kennett State Government in the late 1990s, but was slowly implemented under the Bracks and Brumby governments. However, plans from the late 1980s included a number of cross-town routes, which, interestingly enough, were to be called MetLink.
The first stage of the trial was implemented on 5 August 2002, with the following services being chosen as pilot routes: 703 Middle Brighton to Blackburn and 888/889 Nunawading to Chelsea. These two routes received extra funding for more services, services on 703 increased by 20% and on 888/889 by up to 50%. Sunday services were also added to 888/889. The aim was to find out whether increased services and better reliability would increase patronage. The project was deemed successful when in 2003, on the 1st anniversary of SmartBus, the Victorian Government released a media statement that the SmartBus program increased patronage by 25%.
Three orbital bus lines operate in Melbourne as part of the SmartBus network, they provide cross city links connecting railway and tram lines and other bus routes. The first orbital route started as route 700 running between Mordialloc and Box Hill, it opened on 14 June 2005. On 20 April 2009 it was extended to Altona, becoming the Red Orbital 903, it connects to 11 railway stations and nine tram lines, and is 86 kilometres in length. This was followed by the Yellow Orbital 901 on 24 March 2008 operating between Frankston and Ringwood. It was extended to Melbourne Airport 26 September 2010, it is Melbourne's longest bus route at 115 kilometres with a journey time of four and a half hours and connects with nine railway stations and over 100 bus routes. Lastly in April 2010 the Green Orbital 902 commenced operations, assuming the operations of route 888/889, it runs between Chelsea and Airport West connecting to nine railway stations, three tram routes and over 60 local lines, spanning 76 kilometres. A Blue Orbital (route 904), was proposed in the 2006 Meeting our Transport Challenges publication, which proposed to service the inner city from Sandringham to Williamstown, however this proposed route was cut from the 2008 Victorian Transport Plan, with the route not mentioned in text or maps.
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