Buses in Melbourne, Australia, are a major form of public transport in Melbourne, with an extensive bus network. There are 346 routes in operation with a varying range of service frequencies, (including Night Network, excluding Kew School Services) operated by privately owned bus companies under franchise from the State Government. The Night Network bus system consists of 10 routes and operates on Friday and Saturday nights, and a SmartBus orbital bus network currently consisting of nine routes, which is intended to facilitate cross city travel, while the current network is predominantly a radial network. Most of the bus network is a covered by the myki ticketing system.
Several private operators provide bus services to Melbourne's major airports, the most significant of which is SkyBus. These services do not utilise the myki ticketing system.
Some local government councils operate free local community bus services within their local areas. There are also tourist bus services in the CBD and nearby tourist attractions.
While the city relies predominantly on an inner-city tram network and radial train network, the outer suburbs of Melbourne are primarily serviced by bus. Melbourne's buses also provide a local feeder to Melbourne's train and tram network. Unlike Melbourne's train and tram networks, up until the 1950s, buses in Melbourne were operated in a largely unregulated free market by private companies.
Post World War II, bus use in Melbourne peaked in 1952–1953 at 157 million passenger trips. Melbourne's total population at the time was 1.5 million meaning that on average each resident used a bus 100 times per year. By 1980–1981, patronage had fallen to a low of 71.5 million passenger trips for a population of 2.8 million - meaning that trips per capita had fallen to 25 per annum. In the 2013-2014 financial year, a total of 127.6 million passenger trips were recorded on Melbourne's buses by its 4.3 million residents. While this was an increase of 10.2 percent on the previous year and continued the trend of the previous decade, patronage was still only 29 trips per capita per annum.
Current public transport bus operators
History
Early history
The Melbourne Motor Omnibus Co Ltd was formed in 1912 to be the first motor bus operator in Melbourne. The company imported a Daimler CC bus from England, which was put to exhaustive tests under local conditions. The bus held 20 persons inside and 14 to 16 on the upper deck. The bus was imported as a complete vehicle, but for future buses cab chassis were to be imported with local Australian coach builders able to make the bus body following the example from the test vehicle.
The Daimler CC bus arrived in November 1912, and featured a Knight sleeve valve engine rated at 40 h.p., a silent chain type gearing system and a worm type gear box. This was the same vehicle that the London County Council had just ordered 400 units of to extend their services around London.
On Christmas Eve 1912 it was reported that the Daimler CC Double Decker bus "glided swiftly and silently along the city streets". The bus at this stage was soon to be plying for hire between Brunswick East and Swanston Street. In January 1913 it was reported that the Daimler bus had been remarkably well patronised with the bus complimented for its "smooth running of the engine, noiseless gears, and the quiet and easy manner in which the load is taken up when starting".
On Saturday 25 January it was reported that the Lord Mayor of Melbourne (Councillor Hennessy) and members of the Melbourne City Council were treated to a bus ride to St Kilda and back on one of the Daimler buses that the Melbourne Omnibus Motor Co was about to put into service. By the end of February another shipment of Daimler buses was to be imported. At this time the company had drawn up contracts for the construction of the bodies locally. The design was to be based on the same as used on the Daimler bus bodies used in London.
In May 1913 it was reported that a number of routes had been established and at this time a new line between St Kilda and Brunswick East had been opened.
In November 1913 it was documented that the Melbourne Motor Omnibus Co Ltd employed over 100 people. In regard to the imported Daimler bus fleet, Australian contractors had at this time completed 18 bus bodies. One of the main local contractors used for the coach building was Messrs. Jas. Flood and Co.
January 1914 the newspapers advised that the Melbourne Motor Omnibus Co was considering implementing an all night bus service between the city and the principal suburbs.