TT 242: Four Year Flashback - The bus reform that never was

Four years ago yesterday then public transport minister (and now premier) Ben Carroll promised a major review of bus services across Melbourne's north, north-east and Mildura. https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/major-review-buses-melbournes-north-and-north-eastThis promise was made two months before the November 2022 state election. The department went to a lot of work, engaged consultants, commissioned reports, ran public surveys etc. My write-up on this at the time is here: https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/2022/09/un-137-bus-network-reviews-coming-to.htmlSince then our understanding of state politics has changed with the state leadership. We can now view bus reform similar to Airport Rail - another project that was promised before the 2022 state election but dumped shortly after. Not only that but the same people were involved, including those out of favour with the then leadership. Here's the story. The 'eastern strategy'While its primary vote share declined the election was a…