SmartBus

---

title: "SmartBus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bus-routes-in-melbourne"] description: "Network of bus services in Melbourne, Australia" topic_path: "general/bus-routes-in-melbourne" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmartBus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Network of bus services in Melbourne, Australia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox public transit"]

Field	Value
image	SmartBus logo.svg
image2	SmartBus (Transdev) number 682 (7972AO) MAN on route 907 in Lonsdale St, 2013.JPG
caption2	Transdev Melbourne Custom Coaches bodied MAN 18.310 on Lonsdale Street in August 2013
imagesize2	250px
locale	Melbourne
transit_type	Bus
lines	9 (including 3 Orbital and 4 DART)
website	SmartBus at PTV
operator	CDC Melbourne
Kinetic Melbourne
Ventura Bus Lines
map	SmartBus map and routes at Public Transport Victoria
map_state
::

|name = |image = SmartBus logo.svg |image2 = SmartBus (Transdev) number 682 (7972AO) MAN on route 907 in Lonsdale St, 2013.JPG |caption2 = Transdev Melbourne Custom Coaches bodied MAN 18.310 on Lonsdale Street in August 2013 |imagesize2 = 250px |locale = Melbourne |transit_type = Bus |lines = 9 (including 3 Orbital and 4 DART) |website = SmartBus at PTV |began_operation = |ended_operation = |operator = CDC Melbourne Kinetic Melbourne Ventura Bus Lines |map = SmartBus map and routes at Public Transport Victoria |map_name = |map_state = }}

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. Buses on SmartBus routes are shared among three operators, with route 900 being operated by both Ventura Bus Lines and CDC Melbourne.

SmartBus originally was a policy proposed by the Victoria State Government in the late 1990s, but was only implemented in the early 2000s. In 2003, the first trial program began with routes 703 and 888/889 (now 902) being upgraded to SmartBus status. The program was deemed successful and as a result new SmartBus routes began service with the most recent addition of routes being the introduction of the four Doncaster Area Rapid Transit routes in 2010.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/SmartBus_liveried_Ventura_bus.jpg" caption="MAN]] 16.240 on route 903 in August 2009"] ::

1990s

Although SmartBus was originally a policy initiative of the Kennett government in the late 1990s, the government only began implementing the proposal in the early 2000s. However, plans from the late 1980s included several cross-town routes, which were to be called Metlink.

2000–2012

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Ventura_Volvo_B7RLE_Smartbus_at_Westfield_Doncaster.jpg" caption="A Ventura Volvo B7RLE Smartbus operating a Route 902 to Chelsea at [[Westfield Doncaster"] ::

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 (operated by Ventura Bus Lines) and 888/889 Nunawading to Chelsea (operated by Grenda's Bus Services). 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%.

On 16 October 2006, route 900 began operation, connecting major areas in south-eastern Melbourne including Chadstone SC, Oakleigh and Monash University. It was jointly operated by Grenda's Bus Service and Eastrans.

Three orbital bus lines were introduced as part of the SmartBus network, with the intention of providing cross city links connecting railway and tram lines and other bus routes.

The first orbital route started as several routes (including Route 665 from Dandenong to Ringwood and Route 830 from Dandenong to Frankston). It was re-launched as Yellow Orbital Route 901 on 24 March 2008 operating between Frankston and Ringwood. Route 901 connects with nine railway stations and over 100 bus routes, and on 26 September 2010, the route was extended to Melbourne Airport. At 115 kilometres long, Route 901 has a journey time of four and a half hours, making it Melbourne's second longest bus route after the Route 684 service between Ringwood and Eildon.

This was followed by route 700 running between Mordialloc and Box Hill; it was re-launched as a SmartBus on 14 June 2005. On 20 April 2009, the route was extended to Altona, becoming the Red Orbital 903, and replaced route 291. It connects to 11 railway stations and nine tram lines, and is 86 kilometres (53 mi) in length.

Last, in April 2010, the Green Orbital 902 started operation, assuming the operations of Grenda's Smartbus route 888/889 as well as East West Bus Company's route 560. The route was jointly operated by Grenda's and East West. It runs between Chelsea and Airport West, connecting to nine railway stations, three tram routes and over 60 local lines, spanning 76 km. The Green Orbital was intended to extend westwards to Werribee via Sydenham but this never eventuated.

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.

Doncaster Area Rapid Transit (DART) Routes begun operation on 4 October 2010. Those routes were designed to provide a public transport connection between the Doncaster area and the Melbourne central business district.

SmartBus had been criticised for being not par with world bus rapid transit system standards, such as segregating from car lanes via a separated roadway, working traffic light bus priority and better real-time information screens.

Since 2012

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Kinetic_Melbourne_SmartBus_bendy_8033AO_(2000)_July_2024_1.jpg" caption="Scania K310UA]] on route 907 in July 2024. This is one of the only two articulated buses to bear the SmartBus livery"] ::

Between 2012 and 2013, all of the nine routes were operated by Ventura Bus Lines (with 900 to 902 jointly operated with other operators). Transdev Melbourne was awarded the Melbourne Metropolitan Bus Franchise, which included the three orbital and four DART routes, and took over the routes from Ventura in August 2013. In late 2014, Transdev proposed to split the three orbital routes into seven routes, as part of a planned network change in 2015. In April 2015, the proposed network change, including the splitting of the orbial routes, was rejected by the newly-elected Andrews Labor government.

In January 2022, Kinetic Melbourne succeeded Transdev as new franchise operator of the Melbourne Metropolitan Bus Franchise and took over the three orbital and four DART routes.

Network and Operations

Routes

::data[format=table]

Route	From	To	Via	Operator	Notes	703	900	901	902	903	905	906	907	908
Blackburn	Middle Brighton	Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre, Monash University, Clayton station & Bentleigh station	Ventura Bus Lines	Official SmartBus section is only north of Clayton, although PIDs are installed at Bentleigh. Service levels are not as high as on other SmartBus routes, especially along Centre Rd segment.
Rowville	Caulfield	Waverley Park, Monash University & Chadstone Shopping Centre	CDC Melbourne and Ventura Bus Lines	Limited stops service
Frankston station	Melbourne Airport	Dandenong station, Westfield Knox, Ringwood station, Blackburn station, The Pines Shopping Centre, Greensborough station, Epping station, Roxburgh Park station & Broadmeadows station	Kinetic Melbourne	Orbital – Yellow
Chelsea station	Airport West	Springvale Shopping Centre, Glen Waverley station, Nunawading station, Westfield Doncaster, Eltham station, Greensborough Plaza, Campbellfield, Broadmeadows station & Gladstone Park	Orbital – Green
Altona station	Mordialloc	Sunshine station, Essendon station, Preston station, Northland Shopping Centre, Heidelberg station, Westfield Doncaster, Box Hill Central, Deakin University (Burwood Campus), Chadstone Shopping Centre & Mentone station	Orbital – Red
Some services terminate at Box Hill, Heidelberg, Essendon or Sunshine, towards Altona, or either Mentone or Oakleigh towards Mordialloc instead.
City (Lonsdale Street)	The Pines Shopping Centre	Eastern Freeway exiting at Bulleen Road, Templestowe	Doncaster Area Rapid Transit (DART)
City (Lonsdale Street)	Warrandyte	Eastern Freeway, exiting at Blackburn Road, The Pines Shopping Centre
City (Lonsdale Street)	Mitcham	Eastern Freeway, exiting at Doncaster Road, Doncaster Park & Ride
City (Lonsdale Street)
Terminates at Doncaster Park & Ride during off-peak	The Pines Shopping Centre	Eastern Freeway, exiting at Doncaster Road, Doncaster Park & Ride, King Street
::

Services

SmartBus routes operate from 5:00am to midnight from Monday to Saturday and from 6:00am to 9:00pm on Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day. Most services run the full route however, some services on the three orbital routes and off-peak services route 908 may serve shorter runs. SmartBus services usually serve most stops however, route 900 instead offers a limited express service, only stopping at major stops along the route.

Frequencies on the nine routes are higher than most bus routes on the network, will vary throughout the day and go as follows.

• 30 minute frequencies between 5:00am and 6:30am
• 15 minute frequencies between 6:30am and 9:00pm on routes 703, 901, 902 and 903
• 10 minute frequencies (or higher) between 6:30am and 9:00pm on routes 900, 905, 906, 907 and 908
• 30 minute frequencies from 8:30pm and 12:00am
• 30 minute frequencies on weekends and public holidays
• 60 minute frequencies on Night Network services

Operators

::data[format=table title=""]

Route	2002–2005	2005–2008	2008–2010	2010–2013	2013–2022	2022–now	703	900	901	902	903	905	906	907	908
Ventura Bus Lines (2002–present)
N/A	Grenda's Bus Services and Eastrans (2006–2012)	Ventura Bus Lines and
Eastrans (2012–2014)	Ventura Bus Lines and CDC Melbourne (2014–present)
N/A (Non-Smartbus routes 665 and 830/831)	Grenda's Bus Services and
Invicta Bus Services (2008–2009)	Grenda's Bus Services (2009–2010)	Grenda's Bus Services and
East West Bus Company (2010–2012)	Ventura Bus Lines and
East West Bus Company (2012–2013)	Transdev Melbourne (2013–2022)	Kinetic Melbourne (2022–present)
Grenda's Bus Services (2002–2010 as Smartbus 888/889)	Grenda's Bus Services and
East West Bus Company (2010–2012)	Ventura Bus Lines and
East West Bus Company (2012–2013)
N/A	Ventura Bus Lines (2005–2009 as Smartbus 700)	Ventura Bus Lines (2009–2013)
N/A	Ventura Bus Lines (2010–2013)
::

Infrastructure

Buses

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/SmartBus-nextstop.jpg" caption="Ventura]] SmartBus"] ::

Originally, SmartBus routes used a dedicated fleet of low-entry buses painted in the grey SmartBus livery. The first batch of SmartBus liveried buses were Mercedes-Benz OC500LEs delivered in 2006 and 2007 by Eastrans and Grenda's for route 900. However, since then, most of these buses have been displaced onto non-SmartBus routes and replaced by Gemilang Coachworks and Volgren bodied and Scania K320UBs painted in the orange PTV livery. Buses dedicated to SmartBus operations, regardless of livery, feature PIDS inside of the bus, which shows the next stop. In 2022, Kinetic Melbourne began running electric buses on 901, 902 and 903.

Bus Stops

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/SmartBus_PID.jpg" caption="Bentleigh"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Smartbus_totem_with_Night_Bus_logo,Box_Hill_North(53512294455).jpg" caption="Smartbus totem with a Night Bus logo, Box Hill North"] ::

SmartBus bus stops offer a variety of premium features not usually present at non-Smartbus bus stops. All SmartBus bus stops feature totems, with some including real time PIDs embedded into them. Additionally, major bus stops may include shelters, bins, and real time passenger information displays. These displays will show the next departures of each SmartBus route and at railway stations will additionally show the next departures of rail services.

Signalling

SmartBus corridors use more modern signalling which is not common on non-SmartBus routes. The location of buses is tracked using GPS satellite receivers fitted to the bus, which relay this information to the network control centre. Many traffic lights on SmartBus corridors are fitted with bus signal priority equipment, to allow for buses to change signals ahead to speed up their journey. The information from both systems is also commonly used when operating PIDs, when accounting for delays and earlier arrivals.

References

References

1. "Network statistics". [[Public Transport Victoria]].
2. "SmartBus – Public Transport Victoria".
3. W. A. Doubleday. (1988). "The May Intermediate Draft MetPlan".
4. "Media release: Outstanding performance marks first anniversary of SmartBus".
5. (11 October 2006). "New SmartBus route for Melbourne's outer-east". Metlink.
6. "900 - Stud Park - Caulfield via Monash University, Chadstone (SMARTBUS Service)".
7. (10 March 2008). "SmartBus network expands in Melbourne's South East".
8. Carey, Adam. (27 October 2013). "901 bus service 'flawed'". [[The Age]].
9. (1 July 2009). "Patronage on new Smartbus route highest on record". Australasian Bus & Coach.
10. (2 April 2011). "SmartBus map and routes". [[Department of Transport (Victoria, 2008–13).
11. "Smartbus".
12. [https://web.archive.org/web/20201118155625/https://www.smh.com.au/national/smartbus-plan-will-not-work-in-current-form-20080713-3ej7.html SmartBus plan will not work in current form] ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' 13 July 2008
13. "Preferred tenderer announced for the Melbourne Metropolitan Bus Franchise". [[Public Transport Victoria]].
14. "Proposed Service Changes to Orbital Routes".
15. (14 April 2015). "Labor Backs Investment In Better Bus Services And Community Consultation". Premier of Victoria.
16. (25 November 2021). "New bus franchise to jump start zero-emission pledge".
17. "703 Middle Brighton – Blackburn via Bentleigh & Clayton & Monash University".
18. "900 Stud Park SC (Rowville) – Caulfield via Monash University & Chadstone (SmartBus Service)".
19. "901 Frankston – Melbourne Airport (SmartBus Service)".
20. "902 Chelsea Railway Station – Airport West Shopping Centre (SmartBus Service)".
21. "903 Altona – Mordialloc (SmartBus Service)".
22. "905 City – The Pines SC via Eastern Fwy and Thompsons Rd".
23. "906 City – Warrandyte via Eastern Fwy and The Pines SC".
24. "907 City – Mitcham via Eastern Fwy and Doncaster Rd".
25. "908 City – The Pines SC via Eastern Fwy and High St".
26. [https://web.archive.org/web/20091009155908/http://tt.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/tt/TTB/20091008-041610/vic/04901_ttb_TP.pdf Route 901 timetable] [[Metlink]]
27. "Bus Timetables and Route Details".
28. (1 March 2018). "Is the Smartbus branding dead? Why not make every bus a Smartbus?".
29. "First New Buses Hit Melbourne Roads {{!}} Premier of Victoria".
30. (27 April 2022). "Volgren delivers first electric vehicles to Kinetic".
31. Public Transport Victoria. (2009). "Fact Sheet: SmartBus Technology".
32. "Glenroy mini book". Gregory Powell.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::