A multimillion-dollar project to boost Melbourne's underused buses by fitting them with GPS tracking technology has been scrapped before it starts, even though more than 95 per cent of the city's bus fleet has been fitted with tracking equipment.

The bus tracking system was close to completion, and was meant to enable the public to track the real-time movements of Melbourne's buses for the first time, vastly improving passenger information. It was also meant to strengthen the government's ability to monitor the reliability and punctuality performance of bus companies.

The bus tracking system was meant to allow pasengers to track the real-time movements of Melbourne's buses. Credit:Wayne Hawkins

About 1440 public buses have already been fitted with equipment in a process that has taken more than two years, and the system was initially meant to have been switched on last year. But Public Transport Victoria has suspended the project indefinitely, having decided the system technology is inadequate.