Some of Melbourne’s biggest bus depots have recently undergone a major face-lift as Kinetic invests in better facilities and modern amenities across the city.
Doncaster in Melbourne’s north-east is the latest site to welcome renovations following a $1.2 million program of improvements across five metropolitan depots over the last eight months.
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Aimed at modernising workspaces to make them more inclusive, comfortable and engaging, upgrades include a significant expansion to women’s amenities across the depot precincts, including in some workshops where there had previously been no female bathroom facilities.
Kinetic general manager for Melbourne Tom Kinsey says the investments were long overdue and essential to attracting historically untapped portions of the population into the profession.
“Since we began operating the Metropolitan Bus Franchise in 2022, we’ve seen a significant shift in the make-up of our workforce through a concerted effort to attract more women into the industry,” Kinsey says.
“We’ve tripled the number of women working with us, and as we continue to target 50% gender balance over the next 6 years, we’ve got to invest now so our teams can thrive into the future.”
He said bus drivers provided an essential service and it was important they could enjoy a comfortable and welcoming work environment.
“Bus drivers are proud of what they do and deliver services relied upon by so many. It’s important they have the best facilities and areas to rest and rejuvenate before hitting the road, and this ripples out to deliver better services to our communities.”
The upgrades have made an impact on the Melbourne Kinetic team, with this year’s culture and engagement score increasing from 62 to 74 with 95 per cent participation in the initiative.
“Over the last 12 months we’ve seen a 12 per cent overall increase to engagement, which is a positive sign that the work we’re doing is a step in the right direction for our people,”Kinsey says.
“We’ve also delivered a world-class Operations Control Centre to enhance the support to our team while they’re on the road, and we’ll continue to invest in enhancing the assets, infrastructure and technology behind Melbourne’s bus network.”
Last year Kinetic also welcomed the completion of major electrification upgrades at two depots in Melbourne, delivered within 12 months of taking custodianship of the Metropolitan Bus Franchise.
“These investments and transformative projects are all about modernising Melbourne’s bus network, to give people more reasons to ditch the car and take public transport to where they need to go.”
Further works are planned over the coming year.
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