Around two-thirds of Brisbane’s bus services will see major changes next month, as the city is expected to experience “the largest uplift to the bus network in over a decade”.
From Monday June 30, Brisbane City Council will be introducing a new bus network alongside a new Metro route, the M1.
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“It will be the biggest change that we have seen in the Brisbane bus networks in decades,” Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner says.
“We’re also adding new bus services; we’re adding extra capacity; we’re boosting frequencies, and it’s all about keeping Brisbane moving and getting more people on public transport.”
The upcoming M1 will replace route 111 and 160 bus services, running at five-minute frequencies between Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street. This is the third stage of the Metro roll-out.
About 70 per cent of the bus network will also see changes as the council add five new routes, the 26, 109, 127, 182 and 197.
Four peak-hour services will be extended to all-day operations while 12 combined routes will be launched to eliminate duplicate buses.
Transport chair Ryan Murphy says 30 million additional trips will be available on the network that carried 80 million passengers annually.
“Eighty-five per cent of the trips will be faster or the same, and 15 per cent of trips will be slower, but overall, what we will see is a significant reduction of the buses that are clogging CBD streets during the morning and evening peaks,” he says.
“We will take buses out of the CBD and reallocate them into the suburbs. Metro has always been about replacing large numbers of those smaller buses that carry 70 people with mega buses that carry 170 people.
“We expect that we’ll be one of the first cities in the world to have public transport patronage now exceed its pre-Covid levels.”
Changes to the Brisbane bus network may include new route paths, stop changes, bus number changes, transfers or routes being merged with another route. Timetables may also be adjusted.
Brisbane City Council is urging passengers to plan ahead.
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