Abstract
Urban public transport systems have developed historically to service city centres, with a radial network of routes focussing on the city centre. Such systems work well for those people who need to travel from the suburbs to the city centre. However, as cities develop and grow, many jobs and other activities such as retail and entertainment are dispersed to the suburbs, where new activity nodes develop, and the radial public transport system becomes irrelevant to the majority of people who neither work nor shop in the city centre. This paper examines strategies for adapting Melbourne's public transport system to meet the changing needs of the public, and thereby increase its market share.