Vandals increasingly targeting Melbourne's bus shelters, data suggests

Reports of vandalism across Victoria's public transport network have increased by 50 per cent over the past year according to a popular app.

The creator of Snap Send Solve claims it received more than 5,700 reports of vandalism and graffiti on public transport across Victoria between October 2025 and last month.

That was up from 3,760 the year prior.

Bus shelters were the most common target for vandals, with nearly 3,700 reports received in the past 12 months — double those of bus shelter vandalism reports from the previous year.

"This isn't a general rise in vandalism, and it isn't app growth," said Snap Send Solve chief executive Danny Gorog, whose app launched in 2013.

Vandals were targeting "shelters specifically", he said.

Where in Melbourne is worst affected by bus shelter vandalism?

Snap Send Solve's bus shelter figures include all reports of vandalism or graffiti to the app in Victoria which describe bus shelters or stops.

Mr Gorog said they received about two million reports annually for issues ranging from potholes to graffiti, from some 1.25 million registered users across Australia and New Zealand.

In Melbourne, suburbs in the north-east and south-east recorded the highest number of bus shelter vandalism reports.

Graffiti and broken glass were the issues most frequently flagged by users.

The Victorian government confirmed bus shelter vandalism was the most common type of vandalism across the state's public transport network, but did not provide a figure for the repair cost.

It said about $10 million was spent each year removing and repairing graffiti on the train network.

Public Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said bus shelter vandalism was a particular nuisance, especially during hot and wet weather extremes.

"Anecdotally, there are too many cases of vandalism," Mr Bowen said.

While bus shelter vandalism accounted for fewer than half of all public transport vandalism reports Snap Send Solve received in 2024-25, it was nearly two-thirds of reports in 2025-26.

"There's clearly a problem there," Mr Gorog said.

Responsibility for repairing or removing bus shelter vandalism across Melbourne varies between location.

Shelters with electronic billboards are often the responsibility of the advertising company leasing them.

The ABC contacted several local governments within the areas with the highest number of bus shelter vandalism reports made to Snap Send Solve.

Most declined to comment and deferred to the Department of Transport and Planning, or to oOh!media, which leases shelters for advertising.

Mr Gorog said one theory was that lingering damage, such as graffiti not immediately removed, could encourage further vandalism.

"There is a thesis that there's this repair lag ... and when something has deteriorated and has been vandalised, it creates a bit more vandalism," Mr Gorog said.

Drones, CCTV used in monitoring

The Shire of Nillumbik, which contains suburbs including Eltham and Diamond Creek, is in the north-east of Melbourne where the highest number of shelter vandalism reports originated.

The Shire said it had received 130 vandalism reports since January — roughly one every two days.

It said shelters were inspected and cleaned twice weekly, "with graffiti removed as quickly as possible".

Officials at Frankston City, in Melbourne's south-east, said they had removed more than 37,000 square metres of graffiti across all property types last financial year.

The council has been running a trial offering locals $500 if their graffiti reports result in a guilty finding in court.

Another scheme offered offered free graffiti removal supplies to locals.

The Department of Transport and Planning said it used more than 14,000 CCTV cameras across the public transport network.

A spokesperson said the department was "cracking down" on vandalism using drones and "new tracking technology" along train routes.

"We encourage anyone who sees vandalism or damaged property on our network to report it to Victoria Police," the spokesperson said.