Brisbane's Lord Mayor Campbell Newman is claiming a bus patronage record for the city with passenger figures just released for '09- '10
July 14, 2010
The popularity of Brisbane City Council’s bus services continues to rise with 77 million passengers jumping on board the city’s fleet in ’09 -’10, a 6.5 percent increase on the previous year.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman claims this as a ‘record’, saying 30 million more passengers travel on Brisbane buses since he was first elected in 2004.
He says the number of air-conditioned buses in Brisbane’s city council fleet also increased from 36 per cent to about 90 per cent in that six year period.
“Council’s buses have become so popular that they’re now consistently carrying more passengers than the entire southeast Queensland CityTrain network,” Newman says.
He says BCC would continue to spend up on public transport in ’10 – ‘11 with $204 million allocated for more buses, ferries and infrastructure.
Recent infrastructure spending includes a $19 million bus build facility with a capacity to manufacture 150 buses a year.
New bus depots are being built at Sherwood in Brisbane’s west and at Eagle Farm, close to Brisbane Airport, to house the expanding fleet.
As spending has increased on public transport, so too has the contribution from Brisbane ratepayers.
Home owners are supporting Newman’s public transport spending with $384 ‘levied’ on each rateable property, the highest in Queensland.