Meeting Our Transport Challenges turns 20

Twenty years ago on a day like today you wouldn't have been able to catch a bus on any but a few routes in metropolitan Melbourne. That's because it was a Sunday and very few Melbourne buses operated. Whereas today around three-quarters of our bus routes feature Sunday service. The same applied if you were one of those unfortunates in need of a bus after 7pm - there was basically no service in a city (then) of nearly four million people. Even if you did have a train or tram nearby about the only trip you could do was one to or away from the CBD, almost never directly across suburbs. The policy that changed all that turned 20 today. While its record for rail transport was mixed, Meeting Our Transport Challenges, launched by minister Peter Batchelor on 17 May 2006, was the biggest and most successful bus plan the state had ever produced. A title it retains today - nothing newer has ever come close. The lead-upThe Melbourne 2030 plan (based on denser housing around a network of suburban…