[29] On Christmas Eve 1912 it was reported that the Daimler CC Double Decker bus "glided swiftly and silently along the city streets".

Flood and Co.[37] January 1914 the newspapers advised that the Melbourne Motor Omnibus Company was considering implementing an all night bus service between the city and the principal suburbs.

[39] At this time routes also existed through the city to St Kilda, North Melbourne, Flemington Bridge, Brunswick, Doncaster and Heidelberg.

The Trak Motor-bus Company was founded in 1923 by the bus pioneer and distinguished naval officer Fred Knight, with three other partners.

Knight also established the Kintrack Motorbus Company in January 1924, with buses on the city to Caulfield route commencing in March 1924.

The Tramways Board took the unprecedented step of running its buses to the same level of service as its trams – every 10 to 20 minutes until midnight seven days a week.

Kefford Corporation entered the Victorian bus market in January 1976, when it acquired Point Cook - Werribee Passenger Service.

In December 1981, Kefford Corporation expanded its bus business beyond Melbourne, when it acquired Davis Motor Service in Ballarat.

In July 1983, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, was formed under the Transport Act 1983 to integrate Melbourne's tram, train, and bus services.

From 1983 onwards, the State Government began collecting all revenue from the multi-modal tickets, with private bus operators receiving money for costs one month in advance.

At this stage Melbourne's bus network (aside from the Met buses) was run by a large number of small, family operators which ran no more than a handful of routes each.

The Cain Government reasoned that it would be more efficient, and cost effective, to have bus services provided by no more than about half a dozen large companies than dozens of small ones: larger operators would bring in economies of scale on bus purchases, repair costs, staffing, and would require fewer depots.

In August 1987, Kefford Corporation acquired the Bono Bus Services which served Footscray, Highpoint City, and East Keilor.

Also in 1987, Cunningham Bus Lines (who operated route 503), Essendon to Brunswick East) was taken over by Moonee Valley Coaches.

The consolidations continued when, in January 1988, Kefford Corporation acquired Sitch Bus Services (which served Sunshine, North Sunshine, St Albans, Footscray, Yarraville, Altona, Laverton, and Williamstown), as well as Sinclair Bus Services (which served Monash University, Elwood, and Gardenvale).

The verdict deemed that the State Government had acted inappropriately during the tendering process and restored the bus routes to Ventura and Waverley Transit.

By the 1990s, the Government subsidy required to operate Melbourne's public transport network was hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

The Cain Labor Government tried to introduce economies in the running of the system, which provoked a long and crippling strike by the powerful transport unions in January 1990.

National Bus Company commenced operations on 27 December 1993 with a fleet made up of former Government owned buses including MAN SL200s and Volvo B59s.

In addition, between 1997 and 2005, National has undergone extensive fleet modernisation programs to phase out Volvo B59s and early model MAN SL200s.

In 1996, Grenda purchased Berwick Bus Lines and amalgamated the business with its Pakenham depot to form Cardinia Transit.

[48] In 2000, Ventura purchased Mount Dandy Bus, while in June of that same year, Kefford Corporation acquired Geelong's Benders Buslines.

In September 2003, Dysons acquired the Nixon Group, which was the parent company of Bell Transit, Cobb & Co, and Rambler Tours.

Ventura has 15 depots located in Doncaster, Oakleigh, Fitzroy, Ivanhoe, Dandenong, Lilydale, Knoxfield, Moorabbin, Croydon, Monbulk, Rosebud, Cardinia, Seaford, Hastings and Keysborough.

[57] In June 2018, in response to the backlash, the government offered a seven-year contract to all Melbourne bus operators, with no end-of-term access to staff, depots, fleet and intellectual property.

A series of television advertisements for Metlink in 2008 promoted public transport in Melbourne, in particular focusing on bus usage and featuring comedian Frank Woodley.

Key aspects of this program include longer operating hours, higher service frequency, improved information at bus stops including PIDs at major interchanges, wheelchair accessible services, peak hour priority bus lanes and limited priority at traffic lights.

[76] [77] Melbourne has 21 dedicated routes which operate after midnight on Friday and Saturday nights using the standard Myki ticketing system.

The Act also established and set the charters of the state agencies charged with providing public transport services, including buses.

Specific provisions relating to the contracting regime for buses in Victoria are set out in the Bus Services Act 1995.