Buses in Melbourne - SmartBus

SmartBus

The first SmartBus service begun on 5 August 2002 and will eventually establish a series of key suburban bus routes, and orbital bus routes, around Melbourne.

Key aspects of this program include longer operating hours, higher service frequency, improved information at bus stops, wheelchair accessible services and priority at traffic lights. Current Melbourne SmartBus routes are:
- 703 Middle Brighton - Blackburn via Bentleigh Railway Station, Clayton Railway Station, Monash University, Syndal Railway Station and Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre. Operated by Ventura.
- 900 Caulfield - Rowville/Stud Park S/C via Chadstone Shopping Centre, Oakleigh Railway Station, Huntingdale Railway Station, Monash University, and Waverley Park . Jointly operated by Grenda and Eastrans (CDC).
- 901 Melbourne Airport - Frankston via Broadmeadows, Roxburgh Park, Epping, Greensborough, The Pines Shopping Centre, Blackburn, Ringwood, Knox City Shopping Centre and Dandenong. Operated by Grenda in conjunction with East West and Tullamarine Bus Lines.
- 902 Airport West - Chelsea via Broadmeadows, Keon Park, Greensborough, Eltham, Doncaster Shoppingtown, Donvale, Nunawading, Glen Waverley, Springvale, Keysborough and Edithvale. Also operated by Grenda in conjunction with East West and Tullamarine Bus Lines.
- 903 Altona - Mordialloc via Sunshine, Essendon, Coburg, Northland Shopping Centre, Heidelberg, Doncaster Shoppingtown, Box Hill, Holmesglen, Chadstone Shopping Centre, Oakleigh and Mentone. Operated by Ventura.
- 905 City - The Pines SC via Eastern Fwy and Templestowe
- 906 City - Warrandyte via Eastern Fwy and Doncaster East
- 907 City - Mitcham via Eastern Fwy, Doncaster and Bulleen
- 908 City - The Pines SC via Eastern Fwy and Doncaster East

SmartBus services typically run every 15 minutes on weekday, 30 minutes during evenings (hourly beyond 10pm on routes 703, 900, 901, 902 and 903) and every 20 to 40 minutes on weekends. The last SmartBus services depart around midnight on weeknights, except on weekends, when services finish earlier, an example could be the 703 and 888/889 weeknight services compared to Saturday/Sunday. The final 703 departing Blackburn is 12:04am, while on Saturdays, the final service is 9:00pm, and on Sundays, the final service is 8:40pm. The southern portions of routes 703 is not considered part of SmartBus and may receive less frequent services. An extreme example of this is the 703 does not run to/from Middle Brighton on Sundays and Public Holidays. All Sunday and Public Holiday 703 services terminate early at Bentleigh Railway Station.

SmartBus 900, is the first truly dedicated SmartBus service. This service only stops at dedicated stops along the route from Caulfield railway station to Stud Park Shopping Centre in Rowville. SmartBus 900 was introduced to alleviate some of the pressure on the State Government to introduce a rail service to Rowville.