https://www.reddit.com/r/brisbane/s/8kUg7TY7fr
And open letter to the car commuters of Brisbane
To Brisbane’s car commuters: we’re all stuck together – and not just in traffic.
Whether you’re driving your car or walking your local streets, chances are you’ve felt the same thing: frustration. Congestion. Stress. A real sense that getting around Brisbane just keeps getting harder – and a creeping feeling that it’s never going to get better.
Like you, I drive. I take public transport. And I cycle. I’m lucky to have that “inner-city privilege” that lets me leave the car at home when dropping the kids at school, picking up milk, or visiting friends nearby.
But let’s be clear – we’re not each other’s enemy. No matter how you travel, we’re all stuck in a system designed to prioritise cars at the expense of everything else. That’s not a natural outcome. It’s the result of decades of car-centric planning by Brisbane City Council – especially poor land use zoning that separates homes from shops, schools and services, and street designs that leave little room for walking, riding or catching public transport.
Here’s the truth no politician wants to say out loud: we can’t build our way out of congestion. Every time the council adds more lanes to “ease traffic,” the road just fills up again. This isn’t a failure – it’s exactly how the system is designed to work. It’s called induced demand: more lanes encourage more driving, which creates more traffic. So, we widen the roads again, and again – until we’ve paved over neighbourhoods, parks, and any hope of building something better. And despite all that, you’re still stuck in traffic.
Because traffic isn’t the problem – it’s a symptom of deeper issues: spread-out development, poor public transport, and a lack of viable alternatives. The more we separate homes from the places we need to go, the more time we spend in cars. And the more we prioritise speed and distance, the more we sacrifice safety, health, and community.
Car dependency doesn’t just waste our time – it quietly harms our health, our wallets, and our cities. It increases chronic disease, isolates people who can’t drive, and worsens air and noise pollution. Electric vehicles might cut emissions, but they don’t fix congestion, road danger, or the enormous cost of building and maintaining roads. As long as driving remains the only viable option, we’ll stay stuck – and so will the traffic. The only real cure is changing the system – and that starts with giving people real alternatives.
And here’s something every driver should know: every bike you see on the road is one less car in front of you. Giving more people the choice to walk, ride, or take public transport doesn’t make traffic worse – it helps everyone move more freely. Even if you never set foot on a bus or bike, these options benefit you too.
This isn’t just Brisbane’s burden. Cities around the world are waking up to the consequences of car dependency. Some are starting to turn the corner with bold investments in public transport and walkable neighbourhoods. We can too.
The Mayor would have you believe the March Across the Story Bridge was about cycling rights. It’s easier to dismiss frustration by pinning it on a fringe group than to admit the truth: people are fed up. Fed up with a city that forces them to drive, even when it’s costly, inefficient, and exhausting. And when they dare to ask for something better, they’re met with hostility.
The Mayor would rather we blame each other – driver vs cyclist, walker vs e-scooter – than confront the real issue: a failure of planning and political courage. The truth is, the architect of our misery is the Brisbane City Council.
Unless we correct course, it’s only going to get worse. More cars. More traffic. More frustration. If we want a Brisbane that works for all of us, we need real alternatives: safer streets for walking and riding, connected public transport, and neighbourhoods where driving isn’t the only option.
We deserve better. It’s time to stop fighting each other – and start demanding a city that works for everyone.