In the late 2000s and early 2010s, orbital bus routes began being introduced in Melbourne as an alternative form of public transport to trains which allowed people to get to major areas without needing to go via the city.

[13] Route 901 was initially operated by a dedicated fleet of Volgren bodied Mercedes-Benz OC500LEs painted in SmartBus silver and orange livery, with Grenda and East-West later supplementing the Mercedes-Benz fleet with Volvo B7RLEs, and Invicta with Scania K230UBs.

These have been superseded by Gemilang and Volgren bodied Scania K320UBs in standard Public Transport Victoria livery.

[citation needed] As of 2022, Volgren bodied Scania K320HB hybrid buses are also in service alongside their diesel counterparts.

As of October 2024, Kinetic have over 100 hybrid buses, meaning that it's less likely to catch a fully diesel bus.