by Sahar Foladi
A Dandenong-based community campaign hs expressed disappointment over a lack of funding in the 2025-’26 State Budget for improved bus services in Dandenong.
This comes after Melbourne’s West and North suburbs received “substantial” budget funding prompting a response from FixDandyBuses convenor Peter Parker.
“While we agree the funded bus upgrades in Melbourne’s north and west were much needed, the government should also have found money for Dandenong bus improvements,” Mr Parker said.
“There were even quieter routes in the east and south-east whose timetables could have been adjusted to help pay for improvements on busier but underserviced Dandenong routes if the government was genuinely hard up.
“Not only is Dandenong the Minister for Public Transport (Gabrielle Williams’s) own seat, but it remains the part of Melbourne with the least seven-day bus services relative to its social needs”.
The group have been campaigning for “much-needed” seven-day services on the local busy bus routes 802, 804 and 814.
The routes operate Monday to Friday with limited Saturday and evening services and don’t operate on Sunday at all.
Mr Parker says the upgrades to the routes would’ve connected more community members to crucial locations such as the Dandenong Market, Dandenong Hospital and Monash University.
The group was hopeful of continued bus services improvement in Greater Dandenong after the recent success of extra weekend services on bus route 800 between Dandenong and Chadstone shopping centre.
Ms Williams had boasted about this on a social media post saying the changes resulted in 200 per cent rise in Saturday bus usage and 1100 passengers a week on the new Sunday service.
However, “the exclusion of vital upgrades from the 2025 budget suggests a disconnect between the government talk and its actions in Greater Dandenong”, Mr Parker says.
“FixDandyBuses urges the state government to find ways to fund seven-day buses across Dandenong.
“These upgrades are essential for meeting the transport needs of the Greater Dandenong community and redressing the gap relative to other suburbs that already have seven-day service on all bus routes.”
A week before the state budget was released, South Eastern Metropolitan Opposition MP Anne Marie-Hermans urged Minister for public and active transport to improve the routes to meet the state’s minimum bus service standards.
She also mentioned the long gaps between bus times with routes such as the 804 having a two-hour gap in the Saturday afternoon and 814 in Springvale and Noble Park North finishes as early as 1 pm on Saturday.
“The minimum standard includes a seven-day bus service until 9 pm, and this has been rolled out for other less busy bus services since 2006.
“There is evidence that people in the Greater Dandenong area do use local buses providing there is a service available, but there are six Greater Dandenong bus routes that do not run seven days a week.
“Current public transport timetables are often unsuitable for suburban retail, hospitality, industrial, weekend casual and part-time workers, as services are often not operating when people need to get to or from work.”
A change would support the disadvantaged communities “which are shown to have the least public transport,” she said.
The State Government was contacted for comment.
