Last Monday, Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula announced that the Green Orbital SmartBus service that travels through Monash suburbs on Springvale Road would begin taking passengers from April 5.

Buses will run every 15 minutes on weekdays between 5am and midnight and every 30 minutes on weekends and public holidays.

Mr Pakula said travel would be free for the first two weeks along the 76-kilometre route from Chelsea to Airport West, the second longest route in Melbourne.

"We expect patronage to soar once this service is up and running," Mr Pakula said.

But Public Transport Users Association outer east convener Jeremy Lunn said the 902 bus was a case of "too little, too late".

"These orbital bus routes were announced in 2004. It is now 2010 and we are only just seeing the second orbital being launched.

"Passengers will have to wait another year for the yellow orbital and by that point they will have been waiting six or seven years for a handful of bus routes."

Mr Lunn said the Government needed to look beyond orbital bus routes and begin a rollout of frequent bus services for everyone.

He also said the buses, which run at 30-minute intervals on weekends, would not help people wanting to connect with train services, which ran every 20 minutes.

The bus will travel through Nunawading, Doncaster, Eltham, Greensborough, Thomastown and Broadmeadows.