An overhaul of the university bus network will grant students and staff attending Deakin University’s Melbourne Burwood campus more and better-connected services.
Victorian public transport minister Ben Carroll says the improvements are making “education even more accessible”.
“We know how important public transport is to the residents in Melbourne’s south east and the thousands of students and staff at Deakin University’s Melbourne Burwood campus, which is why we’re making the network even better,” he says.
With changes effective on October 15, there will be significantly improved public transport links with the upgraded network removing duplication and increasing frequency across several routes.
The SmartBus Route 903 between Box Hill and Mentone will be rerouted to now service Deakin University via Elgar Road, with this change alone adding more than 1000 services to the University each week.
Extra Saturday morning short trips have also been added to this service, increasing capacity where it’s needed most.
Route 201 will now be upgraded to every 15 minutes, becoming a key shuttle connector between Box Hill Station and Deakin University with the days it runs increased to also cover Orientation weeks.
Route 766 Box Hill to Burwood via Surrey Hills will operate across more hours on weekdays and Saturdays, with the frequency of Saturday services increased from every 40 minutes to every 30. Sunday services will also be introduced, and the existing route realigned to better connect with the new Union Station.
Route 271 Box Hill to Ringwood via Park Orchards service will also be upgraded to include a Sunday service for the first time, with the Saturday service now running later until 9PM.
The little-used Route 768 has been discontinued and Route 281 is now ending at Box Hill station with weekday services having been extended until 7PM. In both cases, any savings have been redirected into upgrading the other University bus services.
These latest improvements to the south east bus network add to upgrades in April to Routes 733 and 767 which the government says are already delivering better interpeak frequency and better weekend services in several key areas including Box Hill, Deakin University, Monash University, Clayton and Southland.
Karly Lovell, director of campus experience at Deakin University, says these changes pave the way for “easy, affordable and sustainable access to the Burwood Campus for thousands of students and staff every day”.
“We value the efforts and commitment of the state government to upgrade these critical bus routes,” Lovell says.