Timetables could soon become a thing of the past as frequency increases on some bus routes across South East Queensland, under a Queensland Government proposal to build a better bus network.
Member for Glass House, Andrew Powell MP urged all bus users to have their say about proposed changes to many of South-East Queensland’s 450 bus routes.
“The LNP has a plan to get people back onto public transport by improving frequency, reliability and affordability,” Mr Powell said.
“In Brisbane this means services every three-to-five minutes in peak and 10 minutes off-peak on major corridors – so frequent that it will simply be matter of turning up and boarding.”
The recommendations suggest additional services for some of the main corridors on the Gold Coast (route 700), Sunshine Coast (route 600) and Ipswich (route 500).
There are also a number of recommendations to reduce duplication, adjust timetables or reduce services on routes with very low patronage.
Suggested changes, along with cost recovery and patronage for each of South East Queensland’s 450 bus routes, will be available at translink.com.au with public comment open for two weeks until 16 December.
“This is the second round of consultation so passengers are encouraged to have their say before the final plan is released,” Mr Powell said.
“The LNP added 2000 additional weekly service earlier this year and now we are undertaking the most comprehensive review of bus services ever conducted in South East Queensland.”
More than 4000 submissions and comments were received during the first round of consultation assisting TransLink to identify where improvements could be found.”
The Queensland Government made the decision to review bus services after four years of declining patronage and decreases on 13 of the 16 South East Queensland operators last financial year.