User:Deus et lex/Melbourne bus route 601

Melbourne bus route 601 is a bus route that is part of the Public Transport Victoria network. It shuttles passengers between Huntingdale railway station and the Clayton campus of Monash University. The 2.8 kilometre route launched in July 2011, and is operated by CDC Melbourne. It is the busiest bus route in Victoria, transporting up to 38,000 passengers per week during university semesters.

History
Huntingdale railway station is the main railway connection for students and staff taking public transport to the Monash University Clayton campus. The frequency of the existing 630 and 900 bus routes struggled to keep up with passenger demand, leading to long queues at Huntingdale for students waiting to take a bus to campus. Increased frequencies on route 630 failed to alleviate the situation, and on 15 March 2010, Monash University announced that ir would fund and run a shuttle service themselves. This shuttle service ran for two hours in the morning from Monday to Thursday every week.

Monash continuously provided data to Public Transport Victoria (PTV) about the number of passengers taking the shuttle service, to advocate for a high-frequency direct route from Huntingdale to Monash. In July 2011, PTV launched the 601 bus route, running express from Huntingdale station to Monash University, five days a week.

In 2014, the service carried about 22,000 passengers per week during university semesters. A Monash University survey of students in 2015 found that about 6,000 passengers used the service every day. This grew to 7,600 daily passengers in 2016, making it the most used bus route in Victoria.

In February 2018, the Huntingdale stop for route 601 was moved from Huntingdale Road into the new bus loop constructed next to the railway station.

Signage issues
Despite being launched in 2011, the 601 bus service remained missing from signage at Huntingdale station for over two years. Former president of the Public Transport Users Association, Daniel Bowen, first wrote about the missing signage in January 2014, and it was also reported by local newspaper Waverley Leader in February. By 20 February 2014, the list of bus routes on the signage at Huntingdale station had been modified to include the 601 service.

Route and timetable
Route 601 is operated by CDC Melbourne during university semesters. Services depart from Huntingdale station and run express along North Road, terminating at the other end inside the bus loop at Monash University's Clayton campus. They then return express to Huntingdale station. The timetable allocates seven minutes for buses to travel from Huntingdale to Monash, and five minutes to return in the other direction.

The first services for the day depart from Huntingdale station at 06:58 and at 07:02 from Monash University. The route operates at a high frequency, with buses departing every four minutes from the first service until approximately 19:00, then every eight minutes until the last services from Huntingdale at 21:32 and from Monash University at 21:41. The 601 does not operate on weekends. In holiday periods between semesters, the route operates at a reduced eight minute frequency from first to last service.

On public holidays, public transport in Melbourne normally operates to a Saturday timetable. However, on holidays that Monash University does not observe, such as Labour Day, route 601 operates on a standard weekday schedule.