BCC’s direct network model is a response to the lack of baseline train frequency which is very slowly being resolved.
Many lines still operate at 30 minutes basic frequency, so if you miss the connection, it’s a big time penalty.
The other issue other members have identified are long connecting walks, walks that are unsuitable for DDA or just no interchange. Indooroopilly and Morningside are examples.
And Toowong and Taringa
Your bus is terminating here’: Commuters ‘blindsided’ by massive public transport shake-up
https://archive.md/sbdgU to view behind paywall
Translink sitting back this time saying to themselves “This is on you BCC”
Everyone expects a one-seat journey to their destination. That’s the crux of the issue here.
It is just another friendly reminder - it is always advisable to package network changes with service upgrades such as a new BUZ, CityGlider or Brisbane Metro services wherever possible.
While it is possible to make major changes to bus networks and not compensate, it is not desirable. Doing so massively increases the risk that the public rejects the changes.
It is probably good to hold a session just for BCC councillors as well so they understand the changes.
This is not just about more public education or consultation. There has been 2 years of this already. People are busy and already operate under information overload. They will simply see the headlines and panic.
For both the Northside and Western suburbs, should these be reviewed, these need to be packaged with some sort of compensatory upgrade to service.
There just needs to be further education provided for the actual changes. One of the people in the article is a cancer patient at the Mater who was stressing at the the 175 being re-routed over the Captain Cook Bridge.
However, as I actually posted in a comment under the article which may or may not be published, she simply needs to do a same-platform bus change at Woolloongabba to any of the 5 HF bus services that will go from Woolloongabba to the Mater Hill - she will likely always have one of those buses arrive within 5 minutes, I would imagine.
Others were 170 users (changing to a 179 to UQ) complaining about now needing to change buses at Greenslopes or Buranda - this change is from a service running at 10 min frequency in peak, to an M1 running at a 5 min frequency (to start with). Hardly the end of the world.
People expect their single seat journeys because that’s how the network is built.
And the reality of the BNBN is that there isn’t any real new high frequency services to convince them otherwise - Metro routes replace already frequent routes.
Murphy said the majority of commuters would be better off, with 85 per cent of trips faster or similar.
“These changes are all about delivering more services, more often to help make it easier for people to use our public transport network and ease congestion on our roads,” he said.
The fact that Cr Murhpy is citing 85% faster or similar suggests the proportion better off isn’t big - too small for them to want to quote in its own.
It would be a different story if there were high frequency routes being introduced on all major roads with decent suburban feeder routes. Then you could argue “Yes, you’re changing seats - you will get there quicker than the milk run you go on now.”
The challenge I see and experienced yesterday (changed at Mater Hill Station) is that the transfers are tricky to work out which of the 9 routes that might get you a short-trip away next or might not!
Interchanges are far easier when it is a change to 1-2 possible routes not 8 with 5 more that are similar but don’t go where you want to go.
It really feels like the state blue team is washing their hands and making Council own up this whole mess that they created on their own.
And this is the crux of the issue.
As much as I like some of the changes made in this review (the frequency boost for the 125/175/185, 333 to Gabba, 179 to UQ, etc)… They are not enough at all.
Truncating cityxpress routes to be mere feeders would be perfectly acceptable if they were implemented with frequency increases, and I’m not asking for LATAM style frequency of 6-8 minutes, but at least 15-20 minutes off-peak to actually make them useable for everyone.
Sure, the Metrobuses are gonna run every 5 minutes but that means f*** all if your connection runs hourly and until 5-6pm only.
Hell, even the frequency increases I mentioned before are only until 7pm! Why? I have no idea.
There’s just no ambition at all in this.
I think that’s an important point. A transfer-based system requires people to have some understanding of the public transport network, so that they can actively manage their travel. It’s a different way of engaging with the network compared with from the commuter who only knows the one route they use to get to work and who is oblivious of the overall bus network and its patterns and symbols. People may have a good knowledge of roads and driving routes but feel that it’s a challenge to learn about the public transport network.
Feels a little bit like a board game where you can move forwards, but never move back. The implication is that every forward step Translink makes has to be weighed carefully. And perhaps every boost to frequency they want to make needs to be saved up and delivered alongside the sort of changes that make the system better but aren’t immediately popular. In other words, if every stick needs a carrot, then maybe we won’t get carrots without sticks again.
The media doesnt do a good job aiding the situation though. They could assist by explaining the reasons why the changes are required in a growing city and attempt to make it more manageable for readers, but instead they pile on for a quick buck.
The ABC is a good example of it done right (although it was lacking in the why it’s important department).
The BNBN project was hampered by a lack of funding from the State (understandingly so), so the Planners were quite limited in what they can do.
The problem is though is that the busway stations were never originally designed to be an interchange, nor was space provided to allow an equivalent bus/rail interchange with the busway (assuming you treat the busway as a railway). A lot of the interchanges in the outer regions in particular are built around local services coming in to connect with line haul services, with specific stops at the interchange allocated to certain routes or locations, which makes it easier for people to get their head around it without spending a long time trying to understand the numbering system, or calculating when they need to leave in order to connect with local services (ala the old pulse system that TL brought in the mid 00s when they overhauled the outer region networks).
Keep in mind too that interchanging can be quite daunting for some people, particularly those with disabilities. You can offset that with the design of the interchange and keeping connections no more than 5-7mins between line haul services and local services. I quite like the old Capalaba interchange how it’s just a square with a separate platform, prior to a few years ago, the 250 (line haul) would stop on platforms B and D, allowing a transfer to a local service (timed to provide about a 5min connection) without having to cross the road and the interchange being big enough to service the routes but small enough that if you walked slowly you could still make your service as the local routes departed from platform A and C (northern routes on platform A, southern routes on platform C). Unfortunately a Planner at TL in the past few years has broken that system with transfer times and messing with the platform allocations, moving the 250 line haul onto the separate platform, which means you have no choice but to cross the road to connect on the inbound).
The problem with Buranda is that those with mobility issues associated with their disability, including blind people, are really going to struggle trying to do a transfer at Buranda as it’s essentially will become like Cultural Centre with many services stopping there with an extra long platform to boot. Imagine you are arrive at Buranda for OB 172, with walking stick in hand, you wait near where you were dropped off at the southern end of the platform, suddenly 4 buses turn up, including the 172 that you need to board, and of course, you’ll never make it as the 172 has pulled up behind all these other services and after the driver has picked up/dropped off, he’s taking off, leaving you behind for another 30-60mins.
Sad to see all the negative media commentary.
BrisbaneTimes headlines this morning.
Over 10 weekends, from June 20 to August 25, buses will be diverted from the underground portion of the busway in the CBD (Brisbane Times, 2025).
I’m surprised actually that this will also include the Ekka weekends.
So now BCC are pairing introducing the ‘new network’ with major weekend disruptions for 10 weeks!
This will only make it even harder for people to understand let alone accept whatever rationale there is for the new network changes.
Could BCC have found a worse way to revamp the network?
Timing and planning the new network changes to maximise use of the new infrastructure would make a far more compelling case for the public - and be sensible PT policy!
Not to mention a 3 week closedown of the Beenleigh/Gold Coast line between Boggo Rd and Banoon. July is gonna be chaos!