We investigate the planning of virtual optical bus (VOB) networks-as a packet-oriented all-optical solution for transport networks-under changing traffic conditions. The planning of a VOB network consists of grouping all edge-to-edge flows in the network into clusters called VOBs, and that has to be done with the objective of minimizing packet collision rate in the optical network. With the dynamic traffic, the planning should be iterated each time the traffic demand changes, and this requires excessive reconfiguration of already established optical buses. To address this issue, we present a heuristic algorithm called dynamic VOB network layout design (DVNLD) that progressively adapts an initially designed VOB network to traffic changes, while minimizing the required reconfiguration of established VOBs in the network. We also numerically analyze the proposed algorithm and show its effectiveness in adaptation to traffic variations and in reducing the required number of reconfigurations. © 2016 IEEE.