There existed bus routes also numbered 202 in the past that are unrelated to the current route. One was allocated in 1971 to the short workings of then routes 201 and 203, and operated from Russell Street in the city to Port Melbourne via City Road. However, by the 1980s there are already no timetabled services for this route.[1]
Another route operated between Kew East and Box Hill Central via Belmore Road from the 1990s until 2014. It was terminated and absorbed into Route 302 as a part of Transdev Greenfields Changes Stage 1 in July 2014.[2]
A shuttle bus route between Parkville and Victoria Park station in Abbotsford was first suggested by Infrastructure Victoria in a research paper named Five-year focus: Immediate actions to tackle congestion in 2018. It aims to provide more efficient access to the Parkville National Employment and Innovation Cluster (NEIC) and help manage the growth of trips into the Parkville NEIC and the CBD in the morning peak, following the success of other university shuttle routes such as routes 401 and 601.[3] The route is then brought up as part of Action 3 in Victoria's Bus Plan released in June 2021, formally addressing the adaptation of the recommendation by Infrastructure Victoria.[4]
In August 2021, Minister for Public Transport Ben Carroll announced the route would be introduced. The route commenced on 20 September 2021, running at a 10-minute frequency. The shuttle service provides a more efficient and comfortable way for people to reach the Parkville precinct, and eliminates the need for people commuting from the northern and north-eastern suburbs to travel via CBD to reach the precinct.[5]
Route and service times
Route 202 operates from Yarra Bend Park to the University of Melbourne via Studley Park Road, over the Johnston Street Bridge, Johnston Street, Elgin Street and Swanston Street. It also routes via Lygon Street and Grattan Street for Melbourne University-bound services.[6] Although this route overlaps with routes 200 and 207, it is a limited-stop service and only stops at around half of the bus stops along Johnston and Elgin Streets.[7]
The Yarra Bend-bound route length is 4.0 kilometres (2.5 mi), while the Melbourne University-bound length is 4.2 kilometres (2.6 mi). Trip times are timetabled to range from 16 to 21 minutes.[8] Since the launch of the route in 2021, the punctuality of the buses on the route has always been over 95%, which is excellent in terms of Melbourne bus standards.[9]
The bus route mostly operates at a 10-minute frequency, with very slight variations throughout the day. The route only operates on Weekdays, with no services on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays, except on Easter Monday, Labour Day, Melbourne Cup Day and King's Birthday. The service hours of the route are from 06:40 to 19:21.[10]
Connections
As a shuttle route, Route 202 allows passengers to transfer to different transport modes, including:[11]
Victoria Park Station/270 Johnston Street and Lulie Street/Johnston Street:
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