![Brisbane ferry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Brisbane_ferry.jpg)
Transport in Brisbane, the capital and largest city of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia, is provided by road, rail, river and bay ferries, footpaths, bikepaths, sea and air.
Transport around Brisbane is managed by the
Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...
and the councils of the
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
s which make up the metropolitan area, including the
Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...
, with or without cooperation with external operators such as
Airtrain Citylink
Airtrain Citylink is a company that was formed to build and operate the Airport line under a BOOT scheme. The line will pass into Queensland Rail ownership in 2036.
History
In 1995, the Queensland Government called for expressions of interest ...
.
Most public transport in Brisbane is coordinated by
TransLink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to:
* TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada
* Translink (Northern Ireland)
Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...
. Rail services are operated by
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
, through its
City network
City networks can either refer to a membership organization city leaders join to connect their city to other municipalities, or to a geographical concept used to describe inter-connectivity of cities on different levels (trade, railways, culture e ...
system. Bus services are operated by both the Brisbane City Council's
Transport for Brisbane
Transport for Brisbane, previously called Brisbane Transport'','' is an organisational division of the Brisbane City Council, responsible through its related Council Committee for providing policy and advice to Brisbane City Council, and for de ...
subsidiary and private operators, and uses the road network as well as dedicated bus lanes and
busways
Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney, and in the Central Coast, Great Lakes, Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales and Adelaide. It is the largest privately owned bus operator in Australia.
History
The ...
. Ferry services on the
Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...
are operated by
RiverCity Ferries
RiverCity Ferries is a public transport company which commenced operating ferry services in Brisbane on 4 November 2020. It is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group.
RiverCity Ferries operates 32 vessels serving 21 wharves on the Brisbane River ...
.
Road transport is via the standard
residential street network managed by the Brisbane City Council and the connecting arterial road network which is managed by
Department of Transport & Main Roads
The Department of Transport and Main Roads, known often as TMR, is a department of the Queensland Government, formed in April 2009 with the merger of the Queensland Transport and the Department of Main Roads. The department manages Queensland ...
. The Brisbane Airport Corporation manages
Brisbane Airport.
Cycling
![Goodwill Bridge IMG 9524 (4827774203)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Goodwill_Bridge_IMG_9524_%284827774203%29.jpg)
Brisbane is constructing a number of cycle routes and dedicated, off-road bikeways. The South-East Bikeway is a bicycle only bikeway running adjacent to the
South East Freeway. It empties onto the
Goodwill Bridge
The Goodwill Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist bridge which spans the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The bridge connects the South Bank Parklands in South Brisbane to Gardens Point in the Brisbane CBD.
The Goodwill B ...
at South Bank, which in turn, connects with the Bicentennial Bikeway underneath the
Riverside Expressway
The Riverside Expressway is part of the Pacific Motorway that runs through Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located on the western side of the Brisbane CBD and is made up of various bridges and overpasses. The North Bank development is ...
. The Bicentennial Bikeway continues along the
Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...
to
Toowong
Toowong is a riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 10,830 people.
Geography
Toowong is situated between Mount Coot-tha and the Brisbane River and is made up of rolling hills ...
.
A limited number of buses used to carry cycle racks on the front but this service is no longer available. Bicycles are easy to transport on the CityCats, and many stops have bicycle racks. During peak hour, bicycles on
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
's (QR)
City network
City networks can either refer to a membership organization city leaders join to connect their city to other municipalities, or to a geographical concept used to describe inter-connectivity of cities on different levels (trade, railways, culture e ...
services are restricted to counter-peak-flow services (i.e. You have to be travelling away from the city in the morning, and to the city in the afternoon). Exceptions to this are relatively uncommon such as fold up bicycles fitting within certain dimensions. Riding a bicycle on QR property is always forbidden.
A
bike station in the
King George Square busway station
King George Square busway station is located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia serving the Brisbane central business district. It is located beneath King George Square and marks the start of the Northern Busway. The station has twelve stops on ...
offers many amenities including showers and locker rooms for members. Subscriptions for a
Velib style community bike hire scheme called
CityCycle
This is a list of bicycle-sharing systems, both docked and dockless. As of December 2016, roughly 1000 cities worldwide have bike-sharing programs.[JCDecaux
Decaux Group (JCDecaux SA, ) is a multinational corporation based in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France, known for its bus-stop advertising systems, billboards, public bicycle rental systems, and street furniture. It is the largest outdoor ...]
for
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
started on 1 September 2010 with bikes available from 1 October 2010 at 150 stations from the
University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
to Teneriffe. Due to declining numbers, this service is now discontinued, with
JCDecaux
Decaux Group (JCDecaux SA, ) is a multinational corporation based in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France, known for its bus-stop advertising systems, billboards, public bicycle rental systems, and street furniture. It is the largest outdoor ...
being ordered to dismantle and remove all CityCycle docks and bikes. These will eventually be replaced with 2000 electric bikes by the
Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...
.
Lime
Lime commonly refers to:
* Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit
* Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide
* Lime (color), a color between yellow and green
Lime may also refer to:
Botany ...
scooters were introduced in November 2018 as a trial with a temporary exemption as the scooters can travel at which is faster than the permitted by Queensland legislation.
Brisbane Riverwalk
Brisbane is notable for its
Brisbane Riverwalk
The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Gov ...
network, which runs along much of the
Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...
foreshore throughout the inner-city area, with the longest span running between
Newstead and
Toowong
Toowong is a riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 10,830 people.
Geography
Toowong is situated between Mount Coot-tha and the Brisbane River and is made up of rolling hills ...
. Another popular stretch runs beneath the
Kangaroo Point Cliffs
The Kangaroo Point Cliffs are heritage-listed cliffs located at Kangaroo Point just across the Brisbane River from the Brisbane CBD in Queensland, Australia. A popular recreation spot, especially for climbing and running, they are convenient ...
between
South Brisbane
South Brisbane is an inner southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people.
Geography
The suburb is on the southern bank of the Brisba ...
and
Kangaroo Point. Several spans of the Riverwalk are built out over the Brisbane River.
Public transport
Brisbane's public transport system is provided by rail, buses, ferries and taxis. A large
tram network
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
closed in 1969. A smaller
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...
system closed at the same time, with routes on both systems being replaced by buses.
TransLink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to:
* TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada
* Translink (Northern Ireland)
Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...
is a division of the
Department of Transport & Main Roads
The Department of Transport and Main Roads, known often as TMR, is a department of the Queensland Government, formed in April 2009 with the merger of the Queensland Transport and the Department of Main Roads. The department manages Queensland ...
that manages the planning, co-ordination,
integrated ticketing and zoning for public transport services covering Brisbane and the rest of
South East Queensland
South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. T ...
. It contracts Queensland Rail, private bus operating companies and
Transport for Brisbane
Transport for Brisbane, previously called Brisbane Transport'','' is an organisational division of the Brisbane City Council, responsible through its related Council Committee for providing policy and advice to Brisbane City Council, and for de ...
to operate public transport services in allocated operating areas for a negotiated price, and keeps all fare receipts. Passengers pay common fares, based on the number of zones travelled through, on all the public transport modes covered - trains, buses and ferries, irrespective of who operates the service. In 2007, Translink introduced the
go card
The ''go'' card is an electronic smartcard ticketing system developed by Cubic Corporation, which is currently used on the TransLink public transport network in South East Queensland. To use the ''go'' card, users hold the card less than 10&n ...
smartcard
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...
-based ticketing system. Paper tickets are still available, but travel using the go card costs significantly less than using a paper ticket.
[Fares](_blank)
Translink. Retrieved on 6 January 2022.
Rail services are operated by
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
. Ferries are operated by
RiverCity Ferries
RiverCity Ferries is a public transport company which commenced operating ferry services in Brisbane on 4 November 2020. It is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group.
RiverCity Ferries operates 32 vessels serving 21 wharves on the Brisbane River ...
. Contracted buses that serve the regional areas outside and across the Brisbane boundary are operated by private companies.
In 2017, an estimated 8% of all trips made in Brisbane used public transport.
After some years of decline, Brisbane's public transport system is being revitalised and finding greater patronage, with significant investment in railway station upgrades,
busways
Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney, and in the Central Coast, Great Lakes, Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales and Adelaide. It is the largest privately owned bus operator in Australia.
History
The ...
, reorganised bus routes and new buses. However, patronage remains a far cry from public transport's heyday in the 1940s, when the tram system alone carried 160 million passengers annually. By comparison, Brisbane Transport buses carried 53 million passengers in 2005, although Brisbane's population has doubled since the 1940s. This figure climbed to 77 million in 2010.
The region is divided into eight
fare zones radiating outwards from the
Brisbane central business district
Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the ...
(CBD),
with Brisbane's built-up area falling within zones 1–3. Bus services are operated by public and private operators whereas trains and ferries are operated by public agencies. The CBD is the central hub for all public transport services with services focusing on
Roma Street,
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
Fortitude Valley
Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestr ...
railway stations;
King George Square
King George Square is a public square located between Adelaide Street and Ann Street (and between two sections of Albert Street) in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Brisbane City Hall is adjacent to the square.
On 1 January 2004, King Ge ...
,
Queen Street and
Roma Street busway stations; and
North Quay,
Riverside
Riverside may refer to:
Places Australia
* Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania
Canada
* Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon
* Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta
* Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
and
QUT Gardens Point ferry wharves.
Various smaller transfer
hubs, such as the
Cultural Centre busway station
Cultural Centre busway station is located in Brisbane, Australia serving the South Bank precinct. It is located directly south of Victoria Bridge and close to South Brisbane railway station.
The station takes its name from its location within ...
, are located at various strategically placed points of public importance and public interest in the city, including the
Queensland Cultural Centre
The Queensland Cultural Centre is a heritage-listed cultural centre at Grey Street, South Brisbane, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of the South Bank precinct on the Brisbane River. It was built from 1976.
The major compon ...
,
South Bank Parklands
The South Bank Parklands are located at South Bank within the suburb of South Brisbane in Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list ...
and shopping malls, which are usually within dense population centres. Many busway stations are co-located with (e.g. Roma Street station) or are near to train stations (e.g. Cultural Centre bus station and South Brisbane railway station), facilitating transfers between modes.
In December 2005, TransLink began all-night public transport services on Friday and Saturday nights, under the name of
NightLink. These bus routes have numbers prefixed with the letter N, and often carry security guards. The
Beenleigh
Beenleigh is a town and suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Beenleigh had a population of 8,252 people.
A government survey for the new town was conducted in 1866. The town is the terminus for the Beenl ...
,
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
and
Caboolture
Caboolture () is a town and suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Caboolture had a population of 26,433 people. It is located on the north side of the Caboolture River, which separates the town from Morayfi ...
rail lines also operate into the early morning hours.
Rail
![NGR722 approaching Oxley railway station, Brisbane](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/NGR722_approaching_Oxley_railway_station%2C_Brisbane.jpg)
The
Queensland Rail City network
The Queensland Rail Citytrain network, provides urban, suburban and interurban electric passenger railway services in South East Queensland, Australia.
History
The first railway in Queensland did not run to Brisbane, but ran from Ipswich to ...
consists of 152 train stations along 13 suburban rail lines and across the metropolitan area, namely: the
Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
,
Beenleigh
Beenleigh is a town and suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Beenleigh had a population of 8,252 people.
A government survey for the new town was conducted in 1866. The town is the terminus for the Beenl ...
,
Caboolture
Caboolture () is a town and suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Caboolture had a population of 26,433 people. It is located on the north side of the Caboolture River, which separates the town from Morayfi ...
,
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Doomben,
Exhibition
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
,
Ferny Grove,
Ipswich/Rosewood,
Redcliffe Peninsula
The Redcliffe Peninsula is a peninsula located in the Moreton Bay Region LGA in the northeast of the Brisbane metropolitan area in Queensland, Australia. The area covers the suburbs of Clontarf, Kippa-Ring, Margate, Newport, Redcliffe, ...
,
Shorncliffe and
Springfield lines. The network is completely radial.
It extends to the
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
and
Sunshine coasts, which are fully integrated into the network on the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
and
Sunshine Coast lines. The
Airtrain service which runs on the
Airport line is jointly operated between the
City of Brisbane
The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainlan ...
and
Brisbane Airport. Coverage is limited in many areas, forcing people on to buses.
[ ] Rail services in the south and east are not direct. Reliance on the rail network is low, compared to Melbourne and Sydney, especially during peak demand periods.
The network has relatively low ridership on a world scale
[Yen, B.T.H., Case Studies on Transport Policy (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2018.01.005] and compared to the city's bus network.
55 million passenger trips were taken across the network in 2018–19. In 2020, the pandemic drastically affected passenger numbers with many services, including peak ones, running at 90 per cent empty.
[ ]
Construction of the network began in 1865 and has been progressively expanded in the subsequent centuries.
Electrification of the network was completed between 1979 and 1988. The
Cross River Rail
Cross River Rail is an underground railway project through central Brisbane, which is, , under construction. Cross River Rail will see the development of a new rail line underneath Brisbane River, and the redevelopment of a number of stations ...
project includes a twin rail tunnel ( long) which will pass under the Brisbane River to link two new railway stations at
Albert Street in the CBD and
Woolloongabba
Woolloongabba is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Woolloongabba had a population of 5,631 people.
Geography
Woolloongabba is located south of the CBD. It contains the Brisbane Cricket Ground ('the Gabba') and t ...
is under construction and scheduled to be completed in 2024.
Buses
![Diagram1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Diagram1.png)
Brisbane has a large dedicated
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
network, the
Brisbane busway network. The bus network comprises over 400 routes and 10,000 stations.
Buses are channeled into the central business district and surrounds via the
South East Busway
The South East Busway is a grade separated bus-only road running south from the Brisbane central business district to Eight Mile Plains in Queensland, Australia. The busway was completed to Woolloongabba in September 2000 and to Eight Mile P ...
, the
Northern Busway and the
Eastern Busway
The Eastern Busway is a bus-only road running from the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus to Langlands Park busway station in Queensland, Australia.
Development
The Eastern Busway was built and opened in stages. The first section bet ...
. The main network hubs are the
King George Square
King George Square is a public square located between Adelaide Street and Ann Street (and between two sections of Albert Street) in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Brisbane City Hall is adjacent to the square.
On 1 January 2004, King Ge ...
,
Queen Street, and
Roma Street busway stations.
Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...
operates most of its suburban and urban bus services under the
Translink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to:
* TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada
* Translink (Northern Ireland)
Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...
integrated public transport scheme. TransLink is responsible for all timetabling and ticketing on Brisbane City Council (Transport for Brisbane) buses, which Transport for Brisbane constructs, leases back (a sell and leaseback scheme operating between the Council and State) and operates.
Outer suburb bus service providers include:
Brisbane Bus Lines
Brisbane Bus Lines is an Australian bus operator in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. It operates one service under contract to the Queensland Government under the Translink banner.
History
Brisbane Bus Lines was formed in the mid-1950s when B ...
,
Caboolture Bus Lines
Caboolture Bus Lines is an Australian operator of bus services in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. It operates 12 services under contract to the Queensland Government under the Translink banner.
History
Caboolture Bus Lines was founded in 198 ...
,
Hornibrook Bus Lines
Hornibrook Bus Lines is an Australian operator of bus services in the Redcliffe Peninsula and surrounding Upper Bayside area of Brisbane. It operates 16 services under contract to the Queensland Government under the Translink banner.
History
...
,
Kangaroo Bus Lines
Kangaroo Bus Lines is an Australian operator of bus services in the Moreton Bay Region of Brisbane. It operates eight services under contract to the Queensland Government under the Translink banner.
History
In 1978 Daryl Webster purchased Kan ...
,
Logan City Bus Service
Clarks Logan City Bus Service is an Australian operator of bus services in the southern suburbs of Brisbane. It operates 28 services under contract to the Government of Queensland under the TransLink banner.
In 2008, Graham Davis became the CE ...
,
Mt Gravatt Bus Service
Mt Gravatt Bus Service is an Australian operator of bus services in South East Brisbane. It operates three services under contract to the Queensland Government under the Translink (Queensland), Translink banner.
History
Originally named Burbank ...
,
Park Ridge Transit,
[Urban]
Bus Queensland Thompson Bus Services,
Transdev Queensland
Transdev Queensland Bus is an Australian operator of bus services in the Redland City region of Brisbane. It operates 31 services under contract to the Government of Queensland under the TransLink banner. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Austral ...
and
Westside Bus Company
Westside Bus Company is an Australian operator of bus services in the western suburbs of Brisbane. It operates 16 services under contract to the Government of Queensland under the Translink banner.
History
In 1998, the Pulitano Group purchased ...
.
[
]
Buses generally operate on a 05:00 to midnight timetable throughout the week, with some Friday and Saturday night 24-hour services. This puts the bus network out of the reach of early morning shift workers. In addition to the local bus routes, most routes in Brisbane are express (CityXpress) and don't observe minor stops. Buses on some routes, prefixed with a P, are prepaid (only pre-purchased tickets or go cards).
BUZ (Bus Upgrade Zones) are high-frequency express routes, pioneered by Brisbane City Council, that provide services on main corridors at least every 15 minutes on any day of the week from 6 am to 11:30 pm.
During peak hours, 'Rocket' buses bypass most intermediate stops, while 'Bullets' (such as the Browns Plains 142) don't stop between the CBD and their final destinations.
The Blue CityGlider (route 60) is a high-frequency route operating between Teneriffe and West End via the CBD. The Maroon CityGlider (route 61) operates between Ashgrove and Stones Corner via South Bank. CityGlider services require prepaid tickets (i.e. go cards or pre-purchased paper tickets). They use branded buses stopping only at specified CityGlider stops, with the Maroon CityGlider running every 10 minutes in peak hours and every 15 to 30 minutes outside peak hours. The Blue CityGlider runs every 5 minutes in peak hours and every 10 to 15 minutes outside peak hours.
The Great Circle Line bus routes operate on a large anti-clockwise (route 598) and clockwise (route 599) loop around Brisbane's outer suburbs. They are used for travel between suburbs, particularly the larger shopping centres, without the need to travel through the CBD.
Buses often provide free transport between major shopping centres (for example Westfield Carindale
Westfield Carindale is a large shopping centre in Queensland located in the suburb of Carindale, east of Brisbane. The centre is one of the largest shopping centres in Australia. The centre contains over 450 specialty stores and almost 6,000 c ...
), and The Gabba
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...
or Lang Park
Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...
for sporting match events.
The free City Loop and Spring Hill Loop bus services provide high-frequency public transport access within the Brisbane CBD, and between the Brisbane CBD and Spring Hill. The City Loop operates clockwise (route 40) and anti-clockwise (route 50) in the Brisbane CBD from designated purple-sign bus stops, using distinctive purple buses. In 2021, a trial of electric buses began on the City Loop. The Spring Hill Loop (route 30) operates on a continuous loop between the CBD and Spring Hill, stopping at yellow-sign bus stops, using distinctive yellow buses.
The Brisbane Explorer (superseding the City Sights services) was a non-TransLink prepaid hop-on, hop-off service that visited Brisbane's landmarks, including Mt Coot-tha, on a two-hour journey. Services were suspended in 2017.
A new bus rapid transit system, branded the Brisbane Metro
Brisbane Metro is a future high-frequency bus rapid transit system, servicing Brisbane, Australia. It will consist of two routes that will each service the Brisbane central business district every three minutes during peak times (20vph), tra ...
was announced in 2016 by the Brisbane City Council. The proposed 21 kilometre metro will service the Brisbane CBD every 3-minutes during peaks times and would be capable to transport 22,000 passengers an hour. Subjects to approvals, the Brisbane City Council expects the detailed design and construction of the project to commence in 2019 with metro services commencing by 2023.
Ferries
RiverCity Ferries
RiverCity Ferries is a public transport company which commenced operating ferry services in Brisbane on 4 November 2020. It is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group.
RiverCity Ferries operates 32 vessels serving 21 wharves on the Brisbane River ...
operates three ferry services along the Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...
, CityCat, CityFerry and CityHopper. Brisbane's ferries, and particularly its catamaran
A Formula 16 beachable catamaran
Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States
A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...
CityCats, are considered iconic to the city.
The CityCat high-speed catamaran
A Formula 16 beachable catamaran
Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States
A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...
ferry service, popular with tourists and commuters, operates services along the Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...
between the University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
and Northshore Hamilton, with wharves at UQ St Lucia, West End, Guyatt Park, Regatta
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...
, Milton, North Quay, South Bank, QUT Gardens Point, Riverside
Riverside may refer to:
Places Australia
* Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania
Canada
* Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon
* Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta
* Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
, Sydney Street, Mowbray Park
Mowbray Park is a municipal park in the centre of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, located a few hundred yards from the busy thoroughfares of Holmeside and Fawcett Street and bordered by Sunderland Museum and Winte ...
, New Farm Park
New Farm Park is a heritage-listed riverfront public park at 137 Sydney Street, New Farm, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Albert Herbert Foster and built from 1914 to 1950 by Gladwin Legge & Co. It was added to the ...
, Hawthorne
Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Hawthorne may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane
Canada
* Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario
United States
* Hawt ...
, Bulimba
Bulimba is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bulimba had a population of 6,843 people.
Geography
Bulimba is located north-east of the CBD on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, but it is by road.
Topo ...
, Teneriffe, Bretts Wharf
Bretts Wharf is a ferry terminal on the northern bank of the Brisbane River in the suburb of Hamilton in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It serves patrons from nearby Racecourse Road and Portside Wharf, as well as visitors to Eagle ...
, Apollo Road and Northshore Hamilton.
The CityFerry service operates smaller vessels for popular cross-river routes, namely: Bulimba
Bulimba is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bulimba had a population of 6,843 people.
Geography
Bulimba is located north-east of the CBD on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, but it is by road.
Topo ...
– Teneriffe, New Farm Park
New Farm Park is a heritage-listed riverfront public park at 137 Sydney Street, New Farm, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Albert Herbert Foster and built from 1914 to 1950 by Gladwin Legge & Co. It was added to the ...
– Norman Park, and Holman Street– Eagle Street Pier– Thornton Street.
The free CityHopper service operates smaller vessels along a route between North Quay and Sydney Street, stopping at South Bank, Maritime Museum
A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the militar ...
, Thornton Street, Eagle Street Pier, Holman Street and Dockside.
Taxis
Three cab companies operate in Brisbane: Yellow Cabs (whose vehicles are painted orange), Black and White Cabs and 13Cabs (2018). All three companies offer services under the same fare system (regulated by the Queensland government). They may pick up passengers from anywhere in the metropolitan and regional areas of Brisbane via casual or permanent bookings cab ranks. As well as standard taxis, both provide Maxi-Taxis designed to accommodate up to 10 people and with disability access. They also operate luxury vehicles (Silver Service for Yellow, Business Class for Black and White). All cabs now are also fitted with GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
tracking systems for driver location and have debit/credit card EFTPOS
Electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS; ) is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS ...
facilities.
Public Transport Statistics
According to data released by Moovit
Moovit ( he, מוביט) is an Israel-based mobility as a service provider and journey planner app. It has been owned by Intel through the Mobileye subsidiary since 2020. The company uses both crowdsourced and official public transit data to pro ...
in July 2017, the average amount of time people spend commuting with public transport in Brisbane & South East QLD, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 68 min. 22.6 percent of public transport riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transport is 13 min, while 18.7 percent of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transport is 9 km, while 20 percent travel for over 12 km in a single direction.
Roads
Brisbane's road system was planned around large, spacious suburban areas. Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
and over-reliance on cars predominate. Dense suburbs now rely on several main road corridors that split through and between these areas and provide the only link to the CBD and other areas of Brisbane. Logan Road
Logan Road, allocated state routes 95 and 30, is a major road in Brisbane, Queensland. It runs from Springwood in Logan City to Woolloongabba in Brisbane, with most of the route signed as state route 95. The route was formerly the main route ...
, Moggill Road
Moggill is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Moggill had a population of 4,641 people.
Geography
Moggill is about by from the Brisbane GPO.
The Brisbane River bounds the suburb to the east, south and west with ...
, Old Cleveland Road
Old Cleveland Road is a major road in Brisbane, Queensland. It runs from Stones Corner to Capalaba in Brisbane, with most of the route signed as State Route 22. Sections of the road are also part of State Routes 30, 54, and 55. The road is the ...
and Gympie Road
Gympie Road is a major road in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The road forms part of the main road route from the Brisbane Central Business District (CBD) to the northern suburbs, Sunshine Coast and east coast of Qu ...
are but a few of these multi-lane corridors that come out of the CBD and snake through the suburbs. As a result, traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...
has become a major problem and it was the promise of a new underground road system, nicknamed TransApex
TransApex is a road transport plan devised by Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman in the early 2000s to connect existing motorways and major arterial roads with new transport links and divert cross-city traffic out of the Brisbane CBD. The plan i ...
, that helped former Lord Mayor Campbell Newman win the 2004 local government election.
Bypasses such as the Inner City Bypass, Clem Jones Tunnel
The M7 Clem Jones Tunnel (CLEM7), known during its development as the North-South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT), is a A$3.2 billion motorway grade toll road under the Brisbane River, between Woolloongabba and Bowen Hills in Brisbane, Queensland. ...
, and the Airport Link are intended to help to circulate traffic away from the inner-city areas and main roads via limited-access roads above the ground, and tunnels below that have higher speed limits and exits to particular suburbs. Existing high speed cross-suburban motorways such as the Western Freeway, Centenary Motorway
The M5 (Centenary Motorway) is a motorway in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Australia.
It starts as a two-lane arterial road at Yamanto, travelling to Springfield, where it becomes a two-lane highway and travels across the M2 Logan Motorw ...
, Pacific Motorway and Gateway Motorway
The Gateway Motorway (M2 to Eight Mile Plains and M1 to Pine River) is a major tolled motorway in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia which includes the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges (former Gateway Bridge). The motorway is operated by toll road opera ...
provide alternative routes to main roads and connect up to main highways and other arterial roads. Other tunnels are also being planned to link all the various motorways in Brisbane together as part of TransApex
TransApex is a road transport plan devised by Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman in the early 2000s to connect existing motorways and major arterial roads with new transport links and divert cross-city traffic out of the Brisbane CBD. The plan i ...
, but only two have been scheduled for completion within the next decade.
Route signage is achieved by means of a system of Metroad
Metroads were the primary road routes serving the Sydney and Brisbane metropolitan areas from the 1990s to the early 2010s. The Metroads formed a network of radial and circumferential routes throughout the cities, simplifying navigation. Metroads ...
s, consisting of the most important arterial roads in metropolitan Brisbane including most motorways, and less important State Route
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
s. Multiple freeways connect Brisbane to other cities, including the Pacific Motorway, the Bruce Highway
The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Na ...
and the Ipswich Motorway
The Ipswich Motorway (M7) is a major road that connects Brisbane and Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. It commences at the junction of Ipswich Road and Granard Road and proceeds through to the M2 Logan Motorway interchange. It is t ...
, all of which are part of the National Highway System. Brisbane is approximately 1,000 km away from Sydney, the closest major capital city.
Bridges
The Brisbane River creates a barrier to road transport routes. In total there are sixteen bridges over the river, mostly concentrated in the inner city area. The road bridges (which usually also include provision for pedestrians and cyclists) by distance from the river mouth are the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges
The Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges are a side-by-side pair of road bridges on the Gateway Motorway (M1), which skirts the eastern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The western bridge carries traffic to the north and the eastern bridge car ...
, the Story Bridge
The Story Bridge is a heritage-listed steel cantilever bridge spanning the Brisbane River that carries vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the northern and the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the long ...
, the Captain Cook Bridge, the Victoria Bridge, the William Jolly Bridge
The William Jolly Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge over the Brisbane River between North Quay in the Brisbane central business district and Grey Street in South Brisbane, within City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was design ...
, the Go Between Bridge
The Go Between Bridge, formerly known as the Hale Street Link, is a toll bridge for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists over the Brisbane River in inner-city Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The bridge connects Merivale and Cordelia Streets in ...
, the Eleanor Schonell Bridge
The Eleanor Schonell Bridge, better known as the Green Bridge, is a 390-metre (1,280 ft)-long cable-stayed bridge which crosses the Brisbane River between Dutton Park and the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus, connecting the U ...
, the Walter Taylor Bridge
The Walter Taylor Bridge is a heritage-listed suspension bridge crossing the Brisbane River between Indooroopilly and Chelmer in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is shared by motor traffic and pedestrians and is the only habitable bridge ...
the Centenary Bridge and Colleges Crossing
College's Crossing (also known as Colleges Crossing) is a low level bridge that crosses Brisbane River at Chuwar, a suburb of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia.
The road across the bridge is Mount Crosby Road. During major floods o ...
. There are three railway bridges, namely the Merivale Bridge
The Merivale Bridge is a double track railway bridge crossing the Brisbane River. It crosses the Milton Reach of the river, slightly to the west of the William Jolly Bridge. Exclusively a railway crossing, it is located between the stations of ...
, the Albert Bridge and the Indooroopilly Railway Bridge
The Indooroopilly Railway Bridge is a railway bridge of steel truss design which crosses the Brisbane River, Queensland, Australia. The Indooroopilly Railway Bridge links Indooroopilly and Chelmer stations, and has two long spans with one centra ...
. There are also three pedestrian only bridges: the Goodwill Bridge
The Goodwill Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist bridge which spans the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The bridge connects the South Bank Parklands in South Brisbane to Gardens Point in the Brisbane CBD.
The Goodwill B ...
, the Kurilpa Bridge
The Kurilpa Bridge (originally known as the Tank Street Bridge) is a 63 million pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The bridge connects Kurilpa Point in South Brisbane to Tank Street in th ...
and the Jack Pesch Bridge
The Jack Pesch Bridge is a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists which crosses the Brisbane River. The bridge is named in honour of Jack Pesch ( 1917 – 2002), a cycling champion during the 1930s. He subsequently ran a bicycle shop in Petrie Terr ...
.
The three Houghton Highway
The Houghton Highway is a reinforced concrete viaduct, the second bridge to be built across Hays Inlet at Bramble Bay connecting the cities of Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland, Australia (the first bridge was the Hornibrook Bridge). T ...
bridges, over Bramble Bay between Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
and the Redcliffe Peninsula
The Redcliffe Peninsula is a peninsula located in the Moreton Bay Region LGA in the northeast of the Brisbane metropolitan area in Queensland, Australia. The area covers the suburbs of Clontarf, Kippa-Ring, Margate, Newport, Redcliffe, ...
, are the longest bridges in the state.
Airports
Brisbane Airport, leased by the Brisbane Airport Corporation and located north-east of the city centre, is the biggest airport in Australia in terms of land size. Brisbane Airport is the third busiest airport in the country behind Sydney and Melbourne Airports respectively. Separated into domestic and international terminals, Brisbane Airport has frequent passenger and freight flights, providing direct flights to every capital city in Australia as well as many destinations in Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East. Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue'', with two ...
, the second largest airline in Australia, is headquartered in Brisbane, while other major airlines Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
and Jetstar
Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline (self-described as "value-based") headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgi ...
both fly from Brisbane Airport.
The Airport railway line
An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while o ...
provides a link between the Domestic and International Terminals at Brisbane Airport and the city, taking approximately 20 minutes to travel from Central station
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
to the Airport stations.
Archerfield Airport Archerfield can refer to:
*Archerfield, Queensland
Archerfield is a mixed-use southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Archerfield had a population of 544 people.
Geography
Archerfield is bounded by Oxley Cree ...
, located in Brisbane's southern suburbs, caters to general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
. Other local airports can be found at Caboolture
Caboolture () is a town and suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Caboolture had a population of 26,433 people. It is located on the north side of the Caboolture River, which separates the town from Morayfi ...
and Redcliffe.
Seaports
The Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane is the shipping port and coastal suburb of the City of Brisbane, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. In the , Port of Brisbane had no residents living in the suburb. The port is the largest in the state of Queensland.
...
is on the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and on Fisherman Island at the river's mouth; it is the third most important port in Australia for value of goods.Australian Sea Freight
''Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services'' Container freight, sugar, grain, coal and
bulk liquids
Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities.
Description
Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/ crude oi ...
are the major exports. Most of the port facilities are less than three decades old, and some are built on reclaimed
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
s and
wetlands
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
. Historically, Brisbane's port facilities were located as far upstream as the central business district.
The economic region near the river's mouth including the port, airport and refineries is known as the
Australia TradeCoast. Cruise ships are able to use an international cruise terminal at
Portside Wharf
Portside Wharf is the international cruise terminal, residential and retail development at Hamilton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
The Wharf is Brisbane's commercial international cruise terminal. It is also an upscale residential and retail ...
in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
.
Historic
Historically Brisbane had a network of trolleybuses and trams, both of which were closed in 1969 in favour of an expanded bus fleet.
The Brisbane Tramways Trust experimented with providing bus services in the 1920s but these proved impractical due to mechanical unreliability and Brisbane's poor road surface quality. The first permanent bus services were introduced in 1940 as a supplement to Brisbane's tram services. In 1948 the council municipalised a number of privately run bus operators and expanded its own fleet of buses. The first tram lines to close were the Lower Edward Street to Gardens route, and the Upper Edward Street to
Gregory Terrace
Gregory Terrace is a road in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Geography
Gregory Terrace commences at an intersection with Wickham Terrace and College Road in Spring Hill (). It travels in a north-easterly direction through Spring Hill, Fortitu ...
route in 1947, the latter due to the very steep grades on that line. Diesel-engined buses initially replaced tram services on these lines, however these were replaced by trolleybuses on 12 August 1951.
The council also intended to introduce a trolleybus service to the new
University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
campus at
St Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...
and purchased enough trolleybus chassis from the United Kingdom for the route. However, it was vigorously opposed by residents and the plan was abandoned. The council then found itself with surplus trolleybuses but no route on which to run them, so it decided to run the trolleybuses from
Herston to Stanley Bridge,
East Brisbane
East Brisbane is an inner southern suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , East Brisbane had a population of 5,934 people.
Geography
East Brisbane is located south-east of the CBD. It is mostly residential, with some ...
, commencing in 1952. Several other trolleybus routes were subsequently established in the eastern suburbs. The first of these replaced a tram route, along
Cavendish Road
Cavendish Road is an arterial road in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, linking the suburbs of Coorparoo, Queensland, Coorparoo, Holland Park, Queensland, Holland Park and Mount Gravatt East, Queensland, Mount Gravatt East.
Geography
Cavendish R ...
, in 1955. Other trolleybus routes to Seven Hills and Carina did not involve tram route closures. The depot and workshops for the trolleybuses was located in
Milton on
Milton Road
Milton Road is an arterial road in Brisbane, Australia. It is currently signed as State Route 32 for its entire length. Milton Road is a major corridor for traffic between the Brisbane central business district and the western suburbs. It ca ...
between Hale and Castlemaine Streets. The former depot was demolished to make way for the redeveloped
Lang Park
Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...
.
The tramway closure was notable for the speed with which it was carried out. Several hundred replacement buses were purchased from British vehicle manufacturer
Leyland, at the time the largest single bus purchase in the world. The sudden acquisition of so many buses was to have repercussions in later years. Initially the
Leyland Panther
The Leyland Panther was a rear-engined single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland between the years 1964 and 1972. A version with a smaller engine was released as the Leyland Panther Cub.
History
The Leyland Panther was introduced in ...
buses proved unreliable, and as a result, older front-engined mounted buses such as the Leyland Mk III Regals, dating from the 1940s, were retained well past their normal replacement date. Once the problems with the Panthers were ironed out, overall fleet numbers and maintenance requirements were reduced. Nevertheless, the fleet retained many older buses from the 1950s and early 1960s.
In 1975, the
Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
federal government made $80 million available to the
Bjelke-Petersen
Bjelke-Petersen is the name of an Australian family of Danish descent. The common ancestors of the Australian family are Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen (born c. 1845), a Danish farmer and master-builder, and his wife Caroline Vilhelmine (maiden name ...
National Party Queensland state government, intended to be passed on to Brisbane City Council for the purchase of new, replacement buses. The government refused to transfer the funds to the council, instead using the money to restore
Parliament House and construct the Parliamentary Annexe building. As the replacement bus fleet aged, their maintenance requirements steadily increased, at a time when labour and spare parts costs had risen sharply. Further, as the tram replacement buses started to wear out at about the same time and needed replacement, the council was faced with another large capital outlay. Subsequently, in 1976, the council was able to negotiate federal funding, enabling them to purchase
Volvo B59
The Volvo B59 was a rear-engined bus chassis manufactured by Volvo in Sweden between 1970 and 1979.
The first Volvo B59 was delivered to the Københavns Sporveje (The City Transport Authority in Copenhagen, Denmark) in 1970, and was fitted with ...
buses, its first fleet acquisitions in seven years.
Patronage on the buses continued to decline, despite the best efforts of the Department of Transport hampered by rising fuel and labour costs, together with tightening budgets, leading to further cuts in services. An ageing bus fleet, some of which had been in service since the 1940s, made the service increasingly unattractive. A further hindrance was the council's own aggressively pro-car 1964 City Plan, requiring all developments to include car parking, but did not require the provision of any facilities that might advantage public transport. By the 1980s, the decline in patronage was halted, although costs continued to outstrip ticket revenue.
Future infrastructure
Brisbane's population growth has seen great strains placed upon South East Queensland's transport system. The
State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
and
Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...
have responded with infrastructure plans and increased funding for transportation projects, such as the
South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program
The South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program 2010–2031 (SEQIPP) is produced by the Queensland Department of Infrastructure and Planning and outlines estimated infrastructure investment across South East Queensland Australia to 2031. ...
. Most of the focus has been placed on expanding current road infrastructure, particularly tunnels and bypasses, as well as improving the public transport system. These include the creation of a new public transport mode, the
Brisbane Metro
Brisbane Metro is a future high-frequency bus rapid transit system, servicing Brisbane, Australia. It will consist of two routes that will each service the Brisbane central business district every three minutes during peak times (20vph), tra ...
; and expanding the current suburban rail network capacity with the
Cross River Rail
Cross River Rail is an underground railway project through central Brisbane, which is, , under construction. Cross River Rail will see the development of a new rail line underneath Brisbane River, and the redevelopment of a number of stations ...
project.
See also
*
Bus transport in Queensland
In Queensland, Australia, public bus services are coordinated by the Queensland Government's Department of Transport and Main Roads and provided by over 1000 operators. The coordination of public bus transport generally falls under three scheme ...
*
Transportation in Australia
There are many forms of transport in Australia. Australia is highly dependent on road transport. There are more than 300 airports with paved runways. Passenger rail transport includes widespread commuter networks in the major capital cities wit ...
References
External links
{{Brisbane
Transport in Queensland
Economy of Brisbane