In a bold move to reshape Victoria’s public transport landscape, the recently announced 2025–26 state Budget includes sweeping investments in buses and transport initiatives aimed at addressing long-standing challenges.
Among the headline measures is free public transport for all passengers under 18 from January 1 2026, an initiative projected to save families up to $755 annually per child.
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The project is set to cost the government around $318 million over four years, and will apply across all metropolitan trains, trams, and buses, as well as regional V-Line services.
“Free public transport for every child, every day, everywhere. Families are doing it tough and I’m on their side,” Victorian premier Jacinta Allan says in a statement.
“Labor will cut public transport prices. Liberals will cut public transport projects.”
A substantial $5 billion has been set aside for what the government is calling a “public transport blitz,” with upgrades to the Metro Tunnel and Sunshine Station designed to enhance network capacity and connectivity across Melbourne.
But perhaps most notably for suburban commuters, the budget includes a dedicated $162 million package to improve the state’s bus network, one of the most significant recent commitments to bus services in Victoria.
According to budget papers, this funding will be used to deliver more reliable, frequent, and direct services, particularly in Melbourne’s growing outer suburbs.
“It’s why this Budget invests to maintain and improve our bus, train and ferry services, and get the network ready for the next generation of trains and trams,” the Victorian government says in its budget release.
“That includes $162 million to improve our bus network for growing communities.”
The major cash splash will see new and extended bus routes connecting passengers in growth areas to train stations, including Riverwalk, King’s Leigh, Mt Atkinson, Thornhill Park and Mystique estates.
Funding will also be allocated to new and upgraded bus services for the new West Tarneit Station and to improve access to the Wyndham Law Courts precinct, Caroline Springs town centre and Watergardens Station.
Melbourne advocacy group Sustainable Cities has applauded the Budget, saying “for the first time, buses have got the recognition they deserve”.
“The Premier was absolutely right to say that good public transport radically changes the lives of young people,” University of Melbourne honorary senior fellow in transport planning John Stone says.
“Commitments to free public transport for young people are welcome, but if you don’t have a bus to catch, it doesn’t matter if it’s free.”
Despite the new funding, Stone expressed concern that buses still receive disproportionately less investment than trains or trams, with more needed to be done.
“This budget takes some useful steps to implementing the grid network envisioned in the 2021 Bus Reform Plan. Some estates, where residents have been campaigning hard, will get long-awaited new services. But, most households in the growing outer West will still be stuck with infrequent or non-existent public transport,” Stone says.
“Until everyone in the west has high-quality public transport within walking distance the Premier’s “real cost-of-living help” for families is still some way off.”
Sustainable Cities campaign coordinator Elyse Cunningham says “a vision” is needed to transform the bus network in the west.
“While the state government is sensibly investing $5 billion on rail upgrades, we know that buses can get people where they need to go at a fraction of the cost. They could start planning for transformation for as little as $10 million”, Cunningham says.
“The people of the West are growing more impatient for a fast, direct and connected bus network in line with research from the University of Melbourne, the Committee for Melbourne and Infrastructure Victoria.
“This would allow them to move through their neighbourhoods with ease, connecting with friends, family and all the vital services they rely on, and avoiding the huge cost of multiple cars in a household.”
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