The Palaszczuk Government will commit $1 billion over the next three years to support Brisbane’s bus services.
A new contract signed by the Department of Transport and Main Roads and Brisbane City Council (BCC) has locked in funding for 1200 Brisbane buses operating on more than 420 routes.
Under the three year deal, the Palaszczuk Government will contribute $1 billion towards the cost of running Brisbane’s buses, about 75% of the contract’s value.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the contract not only covered the cost of bus services but also funded performance, governance, planning measures and bus fleet replacements.
“The new contract will improve Brisbane’s bus services by putting a greater focus on real-time performance management and enable us to work with Council on network planning too,” Mr Bailey said.
“This contract also gives certainty to bus drivers and bus network staff who do a fantastic job keeping us all moving.”
Minister Bailey said a record 182 million public transport trips were taken in south east Queensland in 2017/18, with services on track to break the record in 2018/19.
“Commuters have saved more than $153 million on the price of tickets since we introduced the Fairer Fares initiative and soon they will have more ways to pay on public transport with the rollout of the $371 million smart ticketing initiative,” Mr Bailey said.
“We’re developing the technology now with our technology partner Cubic to support that state-wide rollout and are on track to start trials by the end of the year.”
Head of TransLink Matt Longland said the timing of the new three year deal was welcome news as Brisbane’s public transport network prepared for a major evolution.
“Brisbane commuters will begin to see massive changes with how they travel around our city thank to projects like Cross River Rail, bus Transitway projects north and east of the city and any potential changes related to Brisbane Metro,” Mr Longland said.
“This contract will allow us to work with Council to make sure Brisbane’s bus services connect efficiently and complement new public transport options when they are ready to roll.”
This $1 billion Brisbane bus services investment builds on the Palaszczuk Government’s public transport commitments including the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail Project, the $250 million Inner Northern Busway – Roma Street Station connection, $53 million Northern Transitway project to build priority bus lanes on Gympie Road and the $22 million Eastern Transitway project to build priority bus lanes on Old Cleveland Road.
About $65 million will also be invested this financial year as part of the Palaszczuk Government’s four-year, $545 million Passenger Transport Infrastructure Investment Program to deliver a more connected, integrated and accessible public transport network for commuters.
Projects include $21 million for a new southbound bus platform on Gympie Road and a nearby bus driver layover at Chermside.
Better bus stops also get a boost with $5 million in grant funding being provided next financial year to partner with local governments on a 50/50 basis.
SEQ commuters will be supported to get on to public transport with the Palaszczuk Government’s $116 million Park n Ride commitment to deliver more than 2,300 new car parks, including $3.4 million for 80 additional parking spaces at Cannon Hill.
