Andrea Bunting

Public Transport: Merri-bek is WORST municipality for proportion of weekend bus services

We knew that Sunday bus services in Merri-bek are pretty bad. But it’s worse that we thought. We now find that Merri-bek is the worst municipality in Melbourne for the proportion of bus services running on the weekend.

Bus route 506 runs every 10 minutes through Brunswick on weekdays before 7.30am. But it doesn’t run on Sundays

The Metropolitan Transport Forum recently analysed public transport services in municipalities across Melbourne. The report was published in April 2026.

The graph below compares the number of bus services on Saturdays and Sundays with bus services on two weekdays. Obviously on weekdays we get some extra services to cover the peak periods, so this proportion will not be 100%. We might expect the proportion to be about 65% to 70% as it is for many trains and trams.

But for buses in Merri-bek, weekend bus services are only 44% of the number of weekday bus services.

Movement and Place, “Melbourne Metropolitan Public Transport Service Analysis“, report commissioned by Metropolitan Transport Forum, April 2026

Since the report was published, we have one bus service upgraded. The 536 bus from Glenroy Station to Gowrie Station now runs on Sundays and Saturday evenings. See our blogpost. And the May 2026 State budget promised Sunday services on bus route 526 and 542, plus extra weekend services on routes 508 and 561. See our blogpost and Brunswick Voice article. These have not yet been delivered.

Nearly half of Merri-bek’s bus services don’t run on Sundays. The 2026 Victorian Budget promised Sunday Services on routes 526 and 542, but they may not be delivered till 2027.

While all these bus routes need services on Sundays, the most shocking is the 506, which runs along Glenlyon Road and Dawson Street in Brunswick. It is the 11th busiest bus route in Melbourne. Yet it doesn’t run on a Sunday. Last year, a Parliamentary petition requesting Sunday and Saturday evening services received 1151 signatures. The Minister for Public Transport responded:

Regarding Route 506, I acknowledge the strong community interest in having Sunday services and extended operating hours across the week. The route provides an important east-west service in the local bus network, and public feedback helps inform future planning and investment decisions. I have asked the Department of Transport and Planning to consider this request as part of future network planning.

But still we wait!

The 506 through Brunswick is Melbourne’s 11th busiest bus route https://mohanwadia.com/blog/posts/patronage-analysis

There is a state election at the end of November, and we would like to see the political parties competing to see who has the best public transport policies.

Meanwhile calls for better buses are growing, including calls for better weekend bus services.

  • Merri-bek Council has “More weeknight and Sunday services on buses in Merri-bek” as one of its key advocacy priorities.
  • The Public Transport Users Association is calling on parties to “scrap Sunday timetables and run a single unified weekend timetable – starting with buses – helping to ensure that more routes run on Sundays, and simplifying schedules for passengers”.
  • The Metropolitan Transport Forum has also just sent an open letter to all Metropolitan MPs calling for increased investment in buses including “increase frequency and extend operating hours, including evenings and weekends”.
  • BusVic has also released its state election advocacy document, which includes a call for “the extension of all routes on Sunday to accommodate weekend commuters

For more details on CAM’s advocacy for better buses see our bus campaign page and our advocacy priority one-pagers.

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