Following their community research in 2018, Brisbane City Council has already submitted their recommendations to improve Centenary bus services.
According to BCC, they received four petitions with 356 signatures from the Centenary community seeking a review of bus services in early 2018. The petitions sought better connectivity to local train stations and access to the Sumner Park Industrial Estate from Wacol.
In response to the petitions they received, Council conducted the Centenary bus services community research.
The community research focused on understanding the community’s experiences and views in using public transport. It covered bus services within Seventeen Mile Rocks, Sinnamon Park, Jindalee, Mount Ommaney, Jamboree Heights, Riverhills, Middle Park, Sumner, Westlake, and Darra.
Centenary Bus Services Community Research
The community research focused on the travel experiences of residents from the centenary suburbs. It is aimed at figuring out possible improvements to make the services more effective and better meet the community’s needs.
The research project did not cover public transport fares since this is the responsibility of TransLink. Changes to infrastructure like bus stops, bus interchanges or road networks are also not included.
Research Outcomes
According to the research outcomes published by the Council, the key conclusions from the online survey indicate that a majority of respondents were from the western portion of the Centenary suburbs. They are primarily peak hour travellers with a younger demographic.
The CBD remains a key destination (39%), followed by Mt Ommaney (12.6%), the inner city (11.1%), UQ (10.4%), and Indooroopilly (7.4%).
Based on the outcomes, there is no support for a widespread or significant change to bus services. However, there is strong interest in improvements to the frequency of services and increased feeder services to rail stations.
There is also some interest in more effective Rocket services via the Legacy Way. Moreover, for transfers at interchanges to be effective, travellers expect shorter wait times and significant journey time reductions.
Next Steps
Council will be having a 12-month trial of two hail-n-ride Personalised Public Transport Services in areas not well serviced by public transport.
The trial will commence in mid-2019, servicing the following locations:
- Westlake to Mt Ommaney Shopping Centre
- Wacol Station to Sumner Industrial Estate
Councillor for Jamboree Ward Matthew Bourke said, “What this will hopefully do, through the 12-month trial, is demonstrate that there is a need to connect that industrial and job generator to public transport.”
“…instead of having people who want to catch a bus to the Sumner Park industrial estate have to get off the bus at the top of a hill and have over a kilometre walk to some parts of the industrial estate to get to their job.”
Furthermore, Council already shared the research outcomes and recommendations with TransLink. Any bus service improvement ideas from the study need the approval of TransLink as they have overall responsibility for public transport in Queensland.
“So we’re putting the challenge to TransLink to adopt these. They didn’t want to be part of the review, but they can’t ignore the residents of the Centenary suburbs and they need to get on and deliver better public transport for the residents in my ward,” Cr Bourke said.
For further information, you may visit the Centenary bus services community research page.