Melbourne's bus route number meanings - Deeper than you think

 Have you looked at a the route number for a bus route in Melbourne and didn't really understand why it was given that number?

Well, there is a reason for it! It has to do with either location, or if the bus route was government owned. Government owned bus routes are typically numbered as 2xx or 3xx, bus routes in the west are typically numbered 4xx and so on and so forth.

Well, ok, but you probably already knew about that, depending on if you already read the BCSV's website, or checked out Daniel Bowen's blog post on the matter.

But what if I told it gets deeper than that?

The second number of a bus route also helps show where that route runs, include what significant areas are served.

Here is a list I compiled of what the middle digit of a bus route means.

It should be noted that numbers 1 - 149 are used by Tram Routes.

150 - 199 - Wyndham Bus Routes

150 - 159 - Bus routes serving Williams Landing Station
160 - 169 - Routes serving Hoppers Crossing Station
170 - 179 - Only consists of one route
180 - 189 - Routes serving Werribee Station
190 - 199 - Routes serving Wyndham Vale Station
18x bus routes all terminate at Werribee Station. Source: PTV




200 - 299 - Ex-Government Bus Routes

200 - 209 - 201 is a Uni shuttle while the other two routes are a combined corridor in Kew
210 - 219 - Serves Sunshine and Footscray
220 - 229 - Serves Footscray Station
230 - 239 - Serves City and surrounding areas
240 - 249 - Only one route
250 - 259 - Combined corridor along Rathdowne Street
260 - 269 - Unused
270 - 279 - Serves Manningham 
280 - 289 - Serves Manningham 
290 - 299 - Serves Westfield Doncaster

300 - 399 - More Ex-Government Bus Routes (plus some Eastern Routes)

300 - 309 - Routes along Lonsdale Street and Eastern Freeway, 301 is a uni shuttle
310 - 319 - One route
320 - 329 - Unused
330 - 339 - Unused
340 - 349 - One route
350 - 359 - Serves Wollert, 350 is an outlier
360 - 369 - One route
370 - 379 - One route
380 - 389 - Serves Whittlesea Council area, 380 is an outlier
390 - 399 - Unused

400 - 499 - Western Suburbs

400 - 409 - Serves Footscray Station and/or Highpoint, 401 is a uni shuttle and 400 is an outlier
410 - 419 - Serves Footscray, Laverton, and/or St Albans 
420 - 429 - Serves Sunshine, Brimbank Central, and/or Watergardens Town Centre
430 - 439 - Serves Yarraville and Bacchus Marsh, 439 is an outlier
440 - 449 - Serves Werribee Station, 444 is an outlier
450 - 459 - Serves Melton 
460 - 469 - Routes serve Watergardens Town Centre and Moonee Valley 
470 - 479 - Serves Moonee Ponds, Melbourne Airport, Williamstown, and Gisborne
480 - 489 - Serves Sunbury, 482 and 484 are both outliers
490 - 499 - Serves Point Cook 

500 - 599 - Northern Suburbs

500 - 509 - Serves Brunswick and Moonee Ponds 
510 - 519 - Serves Coburg and Greensborough station, 511 is an outlier
520 - 529 - Serves either Coburg or Craigieburn 
530 - 539 - Serves Coburg, Campbellfield, andCraigieburn 
540 - 549 - Serves Broadmeadows and Roxburgh Park 
550 - 559 - Serves Darebin and Whittlesea Council area
560 - 569 - Serves Darebin and Whittlesea Council area
570 - 579 - Serves either Whittlesea Council or Eltham 
580 - 589 - Serves Eltham 
590 - 599 - Unused
Bus Routes serving Brunswick are numbered as 50x. Source: PTV


600 - 699 - Eastern and South-Eastern Suburbs

600 - 609 - Serves St Kilda and Elsternwick, 601 is a uni shuttle and 609 is an outlier
610 - 619 - One route
620 - 629 - Serves Carnegie and Murrumbeena
630 - 639 - Serves Monash University
640 - 649 - Unused
650 - 659 - Unused
660 - 669 - Serves Yarra Ranges 
670 - 679 - Serves Lilydale, Chirnside Park, and Croydon
680 - 689 - Serves Lilydale, Healesville, Knox City, and Croydon
690 - 699 - Serves Boronia, Belgrave, and Olinda

700 - 799 - Eastern and Bayside Suburbs

700 - 709 - Serves Bentleigh, Oakleigh and Mordialloc, 703 is a Smartbus route
710 - 719 - Unused
720 - 729 - Unused
730 - 739 - Serves Box Hill, Glen Waverley and Knox City
740 - 749 - Serves Vermont and Bayswater
750 - 759 - Serves Bayswater, Knox City and Glen Waverley
760 - 769 - Serves Box Hill, 760 is an outlier
770 - 779 - Serves Frankston
780 - 789 - Serves Frankston and Mornington Peninsula
790 - 799 - Serves Frankson, Cranbourne and Surrounding areas
Routes in the Frankston area are typically numbered as 77x, 78x, and 83x, with several exceptions. Source: PTV


800 - 899 - South-Eastern Suburbs

800 - 809 - Dandenong to Chadstone bus routes
810 - 819 - Serves Dandenong and surrounding areas
820 - 829 - Serves Southland
830 - 839 - Serves Frankson, Carrum Downs and Berwick
840 - 849 - Serves Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Narre Warren and Berwick
850 - 859 - Serves Dandenong and Chelsea
860 - 869 - Serves Dandenong and Endeavour Hills
870 - 879 - Unused
880 - 889 - Serves Rosebud, 885 is an outlier
890 - 899 - Serves Dandenong and Casey area

900 - 999 - Miscellaneous

900 - 909 - Smartbus Routes
910 - 919 - Unused
920 - 929 - Serves Sandringham and Pakenham
930 - 939 - Unused
940 - 949 - Night Network - Western Suburbs
950 - 959 - NN - Northern Suburbs
969 - 969 - NN - Eastern Suburbs
970 - 979 - NN - Southern Suburbs
980 - 989 - NN - South-Eastern Suburbs
990 - 999 - Unused
Smartbuses are generally numbered 90x, with 703 being an exception. Source: PTV



Conclusion

Although the route patterns of bus routes are not very consistent and sometimes make very little sense, the patterns are still there, and can still be helpful in understanding where a bus may go to. That is it from me, share this post if you think it was interesting.

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