Disappointing this sort of stuff from the CourierMail
"Commuters have smashed a mass overhaul of Brisbane’s bus network which would see 41 stops decommissioned and many forced on to multiple buses. "
Can you see the journalist behind it? I’m blocked by the paywall
No. I closed my news subs.
Typical - just trying to bring in clicks. It’s like the scare campaign about funding for 50c fares and how we apparently can’t afford it. The sooner these tabloids disappear, the better, because I honestly believe that stuff like this has a impact on people’s attitudes toward public transport.
I have a fair few colleagues who drive into the city because “public transport sucks in our area” or “the buses are too complicated” and then when I punched their location into journey planner it turns out they actually live right near a BUZ route or even close to a train station.
There has been excellent progress in bringing PT patronage back to pre-covid levels through incentives and service improvements, it would be nice if the media talked about that more instead of shooting down stuff like the BNBN before it’s even launched.
I hope this doesn’t scare them from doing overhauls on the bus network. Honestly the overhaul doesn’t go far enough.
It doesn’t benefit me at all. The 555 city stop, for instance, is in a worse spot. However, as I move to a fully remote job I won’t have to worry. I imagine some people are worse off but it’s hardly as described by Courier Mail. Overall, it can be seen as a net positive.
Complaints in the article refer to taking multiple buses instead of a single seat journey. Targeted demographics are kids going to school or elderly/disabled who have issues walking.
Realistically, for the network to cater for more people, these multiple trips are required.
@rowangray These names appear on the byline: Danica Clayton, Isabella Pesch and Rosie Gale
We’ve sent an email to the journalists. It’s dissapointing, albeit not at all surprising, coverage from the CM. Other news outlets have done a much better job in their reporting.
They are too eager to get a rage bait post that they fail to consider the ramifications.
I think a bit of an issue here is that the community consultation was this was held so long ago (late 2022!), people have forgotten this and are now thinking that these changes have just been rammed through without community consultation.
I also wonder how many of the people who are complaining about their local routes being cancelled or split up into multiple services, have actually looked in depth into the new network to see what replacements there are in their localities (or even use their local routes to begin with).
I know there will be people who will be generally disadvantaged by the changes, but I think many people may not be as hard done by as they may think.
Good point, but in my general experience, nobody reads anything these days. If it doesn’t fit into a TikTok or headline and subheading, they’re not digging deeper.
Outside of BCC land, public consultation on service changes is generally insignificant or not carried out. Things just appear.
There need to be much more substantial and ongoing reviews of the system in inner Brisbane over time. This sort of thing can’t happen only once a generation. Not just inner Brisbane either, people should be able to expect ongoing regular upgrades over time and they shouldn’t all be predicated on major infrastructure being built.
Yearly review would be a possibility. That way it can be adjusted incrementally.
Luckily the Courier Mail left it to the last minute to run the negative story about bus reform. It’s too late and will be forgotten by tomorrow.
The plan is in place as well as rostering and funding. It’s unlikely that they will change things back to suit a few uni students etc ..
The Courier Mail also published a second story detailing the pros and cons of the changes. This seems to be a more moderate, less clickbaity article.
I noticed in the new 444 timetable that they have both Taringa and Toowong as Transfer Points for the train. These stops aren’t really the best transfer points, as to get to and from Taringa Station to Moggill Road is no easy task. In addition the Toowong stop has been moved further away from Toowong Village on High St due to the upcoming development. It’s an average of a 5 min walk to and from the Toowong bus stop to the train station, likewise with Taringa.
There are so many little things that need fixing.
Archive.md is my go to for bypassing paywall articles.
Here’s a link to view the article:
If I was to rate how surprised I am on a scale of 1-10 it would be minus 7…
This process needed far better consultation/engagement than current consultations process of Show Answer and Get Feedback!!
Needs education program and engagement that allows people to understand the challenge at hand/the outcomes/improvements in accessability not just new lines on a map.
Also engage the media to educate them as well.
It’s breaking the legacy of one seat journeys that is particularly painful. In the late 90’s in particular, co-ordination in the BCC area went by the wayside a bit. BCC appears to have looked after their ratepayers with direct through routes and people got used to it. This coupled with a lack of investment in more frequent train services until the last 5 years or so, plus projects like the Salisbury to Beaudesert line being put on the back burner have created a perfect storm of sorts. If people have to change, then the frequency needs to be good or the reliability needs to be high so connections can be made. Realistically there needs to be major overhauls every 10-15 years to make sure the network is still meeting people’s needs.
Agree totally that the underlying overhaul needs to support the change by also having high frequency and reliability so connections can be made quickly and simply.
