Victoria's Bus Plan

Client:

Department of Transport and Planning (DTP)

Location:

VIC, Australia

Project lifecycle stage:

Strategise

Project value:

$50,000

Duration:

January – April 2021

At a glance

Victoria's Bus Plan sets a new vision for Victoria's bus network to be one that is productive, environmentally sustainable that attracts and supports travellers with simple, safe, reliable and comfortable journeys. It is built around six objectives:

Network: restructure networks to meet modern community needs, including the inclusion of a new hierarchy of bus routes across the system.
Performance: a step change in improvement in operational performance.
Governance and systems capability: support end-to-end delivery of bus initiatives and outcomes.
Fleet: transform our buses into a more efficient, greener fleet that better meets customer/route needs.
Customer: deliver a superior customer experience.
Commercial: a new paradigm in procurement of bus contracts.

Objectives

Buses are a vital mode of travel for many Victorians, operating alongside trains and trams, with an annual operating budget exceeding $1 billion. Victoria's Bus Plan was developed to set a vision and strategic framework for the reform of the network, ensuring buses can continue to play a central role in growing a more prosperous, sustainable, liveable and more connected State. To deliver an integrated strategic framework for the future planning and management of Victoria's public transport system, a Victoria's Bus Plan was needed to complement other major public transport modal plans (Melbourne's Tram Plan and the Network Development Plan for Metropolitan Rail). The State engaged SmedTech to leverage its extensive experience in public transport policy and strategy to support development of this key policy document.

Our services

In 2021, SmedTech was engaged by DTP in the development and drafting of the Victoria's Bus Plan. In this role, we:

Reviewed a suite of technical working documents to assess existing conditions and identify opportunities for reform under each of the six objectives.
Collaborated with key stakeholders across DTP in numerous technical workshops to ensure all critical issues raised by internal stakeholders were captured and assessed in the framing of the strategic responses under each objective.
Prepared and delivered the full Victoria's Bus Plan documentation and subsequently assisted DTP in the preparation of the public-facing policy documentation.

Our impact

SmedTech's engagement with DTP resulted in the successful development and delivery of Victoria's first major bus policy in decades, which received widespread support and positive feedback from stakeholders. The policy document developed with SmedTech's support acted as the backbone of Victoria's bus network reform agenda. Our evidence-based approach and strategic guidance underpinned the subsequent reform work across the many dimensions of Victoria's bus system including network, fleet, governance and customer.