Recently some members of The Moreton Bay City Council went on a ride on the M2 with some members of The Brisbane City Council. Cr Ryan Murphy shared this on this on his facebook page for those who are interested link will be down below. At the end he said " Let’s just say they’re very interested in getting their own metro, to deal with the East/West connectivity problems in their city. Stay tuned!". On the top of my head the only East West connectivity problems would have to be between Strathpine and Sandgate but there may be others. With that said there is a chance in the next coming weeks, months, or maybe years we see a new Brisbane Metro type of service in Moreton Bay announced if not that maybe a BRT.
I would start with the basics like making key routes like the 660 and the 680 more frequent and maybe a bit more direct before trying anything like extra-long buses.
They could, however, move to electrify the bus fleet. That makes sense everywhere.
The 660 is the obvious answer for an east-west route that could be upgraded to Metro. The Petrie to Redcliffe section of the 680 could be argued too, although it parallels railway lines too much for my liking.
Bribie Island - Caboolture
Caboolture - Deception Bay - Redcliffe CBD
Redcliffe CBD - Bracken Ridge - Brisbane CBD
Defs need better feeders from suburbs to train & bus stations/interchanges instead of congesting cbd centres
Those says 680, not good idea as it competes against train line but maybe a different option for MBRC to link up with Chermside to avoid competing against train line if go high frequency
Not a single corridor in MBCC territory needs this. There aren’t even any consistent 15 minute headways in the whole city, even on the rail network. Fix that problem before worrying about the rest.
I’d like to see 15 minutes on the railways, but is there track capacity to support it?
I’d also like to see the all-stoppers terminate at Petrie, and RPL trains running express Northgate to Petrie, perhaps with the addition of a stop at Zillmere.
I think it’d be beneficial for Caboolture trains to stop at Zillmere too, for the opportunity to interchange to the 330 to access Chermside. It’d be a fair bit quicker than the 680, especially during peak.
Add 15 minute services on the 660, and a 15-minute direct service from Kippa Ring to Shorncliffe, and you’d have a basic frequent trunk network in MBCC.
Noticed the use of Geebung while trackworks are on affecting northgate to cbd section.
I am not a fan of geebung as additional stop on the northside express service.
Instead consider either Carseldine or Zillmere - both will have frequent links to Brisbane Metro with use of 330 & 340 via Chermside - both are every 15 mins usually. .
I am leaning towards Carseldine more as it can service Aspley too but they probs wont add the express stop until completiom of Beams Rd rail crossing removal project
And if Carseldine do get the nod - id like to see the 326 & 327 to split up and be actual feeder loop services between Carseldine-Fitzgibbon, Zillmere, Taigum, Sandgate, Bracken Ridge, Bald Hills & maybe Strathpine (and actually make Zillmere ,- Nundah - Chermside loop service better instead of two long ones)
I rumble too much sorry…thats my neck of the woods right there…
My issue with Carseldine is the quite indirect route to Chermside. 10 minutes Zillmere to Carseldine on the 330, vs 20 minutes from Carseldine on the 340.
We have a few suggestions for bus improvements as well. I don’t know the local bus service well so will leave it to others to suggest and prioritise routes.
To be fair, MBRC should be interested in the rail line, seeing that they did in-kind contribute to the land for it.
Here’s an idea. If (my) Council has a case of ooh shiny and wants to do something with Berties, I note that there’s about 70,000 people worth of priority development area going in west of Caboolture with very little defined PT yet.
“The Waraba Metro serves as an extension of the Caboolture line, with TBD-minute frequency during peak and meeting every train off peak.”
Basically, this is about pushing for BRT happening soon for the Waraba (Cabo W) PDA.