Transport for Brisbane, previously called Brisbane Transport'','' is an organisational division of 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 ...

, responsible through its related Council Committee for providing policy and advice to Brisbane City Council, and for delivering various public transport services across 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 mainl ...

. The division does this as part of an agreement with

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 ...

, an agency of the

Department of Transport and 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 operates public transport across

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 ...

History

The origins of Transport for Brisbane (formerly, Brisbane Transport) can be traced to August 1885 where the Metropolitan Tramways & Investment Company established a service in Brisbane under franchise from 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 ...

with 18 horse trams. The tram system remained in private hands until January 1923 when the Queensland government established the Brisbane Tramways Trust, compulsorily acquiring the tram network and supporting infrastructure, then in 1925 creating the Brisbane City Council and transferring responsibility for the tram network to the council. Before the council withdrew support in 1961, the council supported the tram network by expanding it to a peak of with over 400 trams. Bus services commenced in 1925 by the Brisbane City Council. Brisbane City Council shut down bus services due to financial loss in November 1927. Bus services recommenced 13 years later, in July 1940 with 12

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

Valkyries. In 1948 the Brisbane City Council acquired 20 operators with 67 buses. The first Rocket services began on the morning of 18 April 1977 between Garden City and the

Brisbane CBD 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 ...

. These services were based on the idea that bus travel time could be reduced to less than the travel time by car by the removal of most embarkation stops. In the 1990s, Brisbane City Council corporatised its transport services to form Brisbane Transport, a council-owned commercial businesses managed at arm's length from the council and providing consultancy services back to it.

Infrastructure

Transport for Brisbane operates services along dedicated busway infrastructure to avoid peak hour traffic congestion on roads closest to the Brisbane CBD.

Services

Bus upgrade zone

Bus upgrade zones (BUZ) are high-frequency bus routes mostly running direct to the

Cultural Centre A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Asia * Cen ...

. All BUZ services run at least every fifteen minutes from around 06:00 to 23:00 seven days a week and at least every ten minutes during peak hours from Monday to Friday.

CityGlider

CityGlider is a high frequency pre-paid bus service around the Brisbane CBD, operating every five minutes during peak and every 10 to 15 minutes during off-peak. This is the first service in Brisbane to operate 24 hours on Friday and Saturday and 18 hours every other day. Bus stops serviced by the CityGlider are identified with signs and painted

kerb A curb (North American English), or kerb (Commonwealth English except Canada; see spelling differences), is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway. History Although curbs have ...

Clem7

Clem7 (Route 77) is a bus route using the

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. ...

(Clem7) which links the suburbs of

Eight Mile Plains Eight Mile Plains is an outer southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Eight Mile Plains had a population of 15,322 people. Geography Eight Mile Plains is by road south-southeast of the Brisbane GPO. Bulimba Cre ...

and Chermside. It runs every 15 minutes at peak times and 30 minutes off-peak, Monday to Friday. The route commenced on 22 March 2010 at a cost of $1.6 million per annum. It has decreased the journey time between Eight Mile Plains and Chermside, removing the need to transfer at

. The route completes the cross-city journey in 39 minutes instead of up to 55 minutes via the Brisbane CBD.

Fleet

Rigid buses

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

18.310s,

Volvo B7RLE The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013. Specifications The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...

s and later

Volvo B8RLE The Volvo B8RLE is a 7.7-litre-engined low-entry bus chassis manufactured by Volvo since 2013 for Euro VI markets. It was designed as a replacement for the B7RLE and the B9RLE. The right-hand drive version was launched in November 2014.

s make up the majority part of the rigid bus fleet of Brisbane Transport. A total of 390 18.310s joined the Brisbane Transport fleet from 2005 to 2010, with 324 fitted with CNG engines (Fleet numbers 1200 to 1523) and 66 powered by diesel (Fleet numbers 1001 to 1066). Buses 1001 to 1015 were on loan to South West Transit, 1019 to 1029 were on loan to Hornibrook Bus Lines services since 2012, and returned to Brisbane Transport in July 2021. CNG powered buses are starting to pull off from service starting from 2019. The rest of the regular rigid fleet are all Volvos, including 553 diesel-powered B7RLEs (delivered from 2009 to 2018, fleet numbers 1801 to 2353, two withdrawn from service due to accidents in 2017 and 2020). 139

s (delivered from 2017 to 2021, numbers 2801 to 2939) and one

Volvo B5RLEH First announced in August 2012, the Volvo B5RLEH, also known as Volvo B5RH and Volvo B215RH, is a hybrid-electric single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo since 2013, initially only available in the Asia-Pacific region. There is also a ...

Hybrid demonstrator bus (introduced in 2015, fleet number 1595), all

low-floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

, accessible and air-conditioned. In October 2020, the last Scania L94UB, the first CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and low floor bus was retired after 20 years of service. In total 217 were made with two lost due to accidents in 2003 and in 2009 when the bus exploded due to a problem with the CNG engine. This has led the

to retire all gas powered buses by 2027. Four

Yutong E12 The Yutong E10, also sold as the longer Yutong E12, is a battery electric single-decker bus manufactured by Yutong in Zhengzhou since 2016 for both Chinese and international bus operators. The Yutong E10 debuted in China in 2016, transporting ...

battery electric bus A battery electric bus is an electric bus that is driven by an electric motor and obtains energy from on-board batteries. Many trolleybuses use batteries as an auxiliary or emergency power source. In 2018, the National Renewable Energy Laborator ...

es will operate on trial with Brisbane Transport, starting from June 2021 on the City Loop free services. The supply of Volvo buses from Volgren came to an end in June 2021, where this contract started in 2009 across a 12-year period, with the first delivery of a Volvo B7RLE (fleet number 1801); while the final bus in the contract is a Volvo B8RLE (fleet number 2939) which is the 882nd bus built. In 2020, one third of buses were powered by natural gas. By 2027 all gas powered buses will be phased out.

Tag axle buses

BT operates two models of tag axle buses, 8 Scania K310UB (delivered in early 2009, fleet numbers 1701 to 1708 and later renumbered as 5001 to 5008) and 149

Volvo B12BLE The Volvo B12BLE is a low-entry city and suburban bus chassis launched in 2001 with a rear-mounted transverse engine. It superseded the Volvo B10BLE and is used as a base for single-decker buses in Europe and Australia. The B12BLE features the ...

(delivered from 2010 to 2013, fleet numbers 5009 to 5157), both diesel-powered and delivered from 2009 on. These larger buses are used on high-demand trunk routes, mostly on 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 ...

Articulated buses

Articulated buses currently used by Transport for Brisbane are 30 CNG-powered

NG313s (Fleet numbers 1601 to 1630), delivered from 2007 to 2008 and 20 diesel-powered Volvo B8RLEAs (Fleet numbers 1631 to 1650), delivered in 2018. A further batch of 20 B8RLEAs (Fleet numbers 1651 to 1670) has started to deliver in early 2020, 1651 and 1652 entered service in April 2020; while 1653, 1662 to 1670 entered service in March 2021. Since 12 July 2021, 1653 and the remaining 8 new artics (Fleet numbers 1654 to 1661) joined the Blue CityGlider Route 60 fleet to replace the rigid B8RLEs (Fleet numbers 2820 to 2838), while 1662 to 1670 joined the CityGlider fleet progressively to replace all the rigid B8RLEs in late 2021. G650 Scania L94UB.jpg, Scania L94UB (G650) is seen crossing Victoria Bridge heading towards Cultural Centre. The last bus of this type was retired in October 2020. W1408 MAN 18.310 CNG.jpg, MAN 18.310 (W1408), powered by CNG, heading towards the Cultural centre doing the 155 Calamvale Express. The yellow kite on the side represents that the bus is powered by Compressed Natural Gas. T1054 MAN 18.310 Diesel.jpg, MAN 18.310 (T1054), powered by Diesel, heading towards Cultural Centre operating 430 Kenmore-Lone Pine via Indooroopilly. G1620 MAN NG313.jpg, MAN NG313 artic bus (G1620), heading towards the Cultural Centre operating 111 8 Mile Plains BUZ via South Busway. G5007 Scania K310.jpg, Scania K310UB6x2 (G5007) heading towards the Cultural Centre operating 140 Browns Plains BUZ via Mains Road. S2005 Volvo B7RLE.jpg, Volvo B7RLE (S2005), arriving at the UQ Lakes Bus Station operating 29 Woolloongabba via Eastern Busway. V2299 Volvo B7RLE Optimus.jpg, Volvo B7RLE Optimus (V2299), seen arriving at Cultural Centre operating 385 Cultural Centre BUZ via City. T2853 Volvo B8RLE Optimus.jpg, Volvo B8RLE Optimus (T2853), seen arriving at Cultural Centre operating 199 West End BUZ via City. S1638 Scania B8RLEA.jpg, Volvo B8RLEA Optimus (S1638), arriving at the UQ Lakes Bus Station with the "Sorry... Bus Full" destination board. G5130 Volvo B12BLE.jpg, Volvo B12BLE (G5130), heading towards Cultural Centre operating 180 Garden City BUZ via Mansfield. A Yutong Electric Bus in the Transport for Brisbane Cityloop Livery.jpg, A Yutong Electric Bus in the Transport for Brisbane Cityloop Livery. This is the first electric bus in the fleet.

Historic

Until the mid-1970s, heavy-duty AEC and Leyland buses were purchased. Later purchases were from European suppliers,

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 ...

s being purchased from 1976,

MAN SL200 The MAN SL200 was a transit bus manufactured by MAN between 1973 and 1988, and was based on the first generation German VöV-Standard-Bus body design. More than 5500 units were built of the standard left-hand drive version. There were also severa ...

s in 1982 and

Volvo B10M The Volvo B10M was a mid-engined city bus and coach chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1978 and 2003. It succeeded the B58 and was equipped with the same 9.6-litre horizontally mounted Volvo diesel engine mounted under the floor behind the ...

s from 1987.

Depots

Transport for Brisbane operates its services from seven depots for specified areas. Some of these depots service routes shared in overlapping areas with other depots. Generally, each of Transport for Brisbane's buses is allocated to a particular depot, displaying a letter prefix for that depot before its fleet number, and hence is assigned to specific routes.

Former depots

Accidents and incidents

On 28 October 2016, a Volvo B7RLE, S1980, was set a light by 48 year old Anthony O'Donohue. The driver, 29 year old Manmeet Sharma, was killed in his seat while all of the passengers were safely evacuated with some receiving minor injuries. Mr. O'Donohue was found to be suffering from mental health problems and was charge with the murder of the driver and multiple counts of attempted murder. Following the fire, the bus was destroyed and the fleet number '1980' was permanently retired from the company. All buses manufactured after 2005 were to receive a physical barrier for the driver and all buses in the fleet were to receive more CCTV cameras and better signage to help with evacuation process on any of the companies buses.

References

External links

Brisbane City CouncilTranslink timetables
{{Navbox TransLink (SEQ) bus network Bus companies of Queensland Public transport in Brisbane Translink (Queensland) 1925 establishments in Australia