MetroBus is part of a package of transport infrastructure improvements in the West of England which have been designed to help unlock economic growth, tackle poor public transport links in South Bristol, long bus journey times and high car use in the North Fringe of the city and M32 motorway corridor.

In 2013 and 2014, incoming directly elected mayor George Ferguson decided to change the route of the Ashton Vale to Temple Meads service.

[12][13] This change would have implications for potential patronage: as the city centre was projected to be the most frequent destination, journey times for most passengers were significantly lengthened.

[18][19][20] In 2018, the m3 route was intended to be extended at a later date from Emersons Green to Bristol Parkway, following works at the station to improve access for buses and other vehicles.

[21] This plan was superseded by the m4 route, between the City Centre and Cribbs Causeway via Bristol Parkway station, which commenced in January 2023.

[28][29][30] The scheme proposed mitigation for loss of allotments, soils etc but a report to the Development Control Committee for the meeting of 27 August 2014 stated: "Despite the proposed off-site mitigation, the NFHP scheme would result in the loss of 1.79 hectares of best and most versatile agricultural land.

[41] Work on this westward extension of the A4174 began in summer 2015 and involved the construction of:[42] The South Bristol Link Road was completed and opened to traffic in early January 2017.

An operator should have been in place 12 months prior to commencement of services (planned for Spring 2017), but bus companies were reluctant to invest in new buses to meet the requirements for MetroBus, whilst having a cap on fares.

[49] In June 2017, it was announced that First West of England would run services on the first route to open – at that time expected to be the m2 from Long Ashton – and would not receive any public funding.

[51][4] HCT Group, the owners of Bristol Community Transport, announced at short notice in August 2022 that they would withdraw from the m1 service.

[52][53] The West of England Combined Authority's Joint Local Transport Plan has outlined the ambition for future expansion of the MetroBus network to link Bristol city centre to Bath via Keynsham, Clevedon via Nailsea, Yate, Thornbury and Avonmouth; along with an orbital service linking Emersons Green to South Bristol.

In an open letter published in January 2020, James Freeman, the then managing director of First West of England, said services could not operate properly because buses were delayed by roadworks and congestion.