The Melbourne Metro Bus Franchise operates 30 per cent of Melbourne's public transport bus services and includes 49 regular routes, 134 school services, six depots and an operational control centre.
The current MMBF comprises over 527 buses and approximately 1000 drivers operating around 36 million kilometres annually.
Over the term of the new franchise commencing in January 2022, 341 of the state’s 537 buses will be replaced by low or zero emissions buses.
Key Dates
| Dec 2018 | Project Announcement |
| Sep 2020 | EOIs Open |
| Dec 2020 | RFP Open |
| Sep 2021 | Expected Contract Award |
| Oct 2021 | Contract Award |
| Jan 2022 | Operations/Service Commencement |
| Jun 2031 | Operations/Service Completion |
Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | Victorian Department of Transport |
| Successful Tenderer: | Kinetic |
| Related contracts: |
PROJECT HISTORY
| 2013 | The franchise was awarded to Transdev for a total value of $1.7 billion. |
| Dec 2018 | The Victorian Government announced it would be re-tendering the Melbourne Metro Bus Franchise. |
| Jul 2020 | Due to delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the existing franchise agreement was again extended until January 2022 to allow for re-tendering. |
| Sep 2020 | EOI to operate the Franchise for a term of up to 9.5 years were released and an industry briefing was held. |
| Oct 2021 | The Victorian Government announced that the franchise had been awarded to Kinetic and that operations would commence on 31 January. |
| Jan 2022 | Kinetic commenced operations. |
Estimated Total Cost
(2021)
Sector
Other Transport
Procurement approach
Service Contract |
Location
Victoria |
Resources
Government resources
Current MMBF ContractVAGO 2015 Report - Tendering of Metropolitan Bus Contracts
