Richer suburbs tend to have weaker public transport and Mount Ommaney is a perfect example.
Public transport experts have established that suburbs perceived to be richer tend to have insufficient public transport systems. Robert Dow, administrator for lobby group Rail Back On Track, told Domain Group that mass transit is weaker in richer suburbs because a huge number of residents own cars.
“I think they said: These people are rich, they’ve got cars, why should we be giving them public transport,” Mr Dow told Domain.
This holds true for suburbs like Mount Ommaney, which is among the inner to middle ring suburbs suffering from the worst access to public transport to CBD. Other inner and middle ring suburbs that ranked lowest include Bulimba, Yeronga, McDowall, Riverhills, Middle Park and Albany Creek.
According to data from TransLink Journey Planner, it takes 45 minutes to travel a distance of around 12.7 km from Mount Ommaney to Brisbane CBD.
Public Transport Not a Real Estate Factor
A common factor among the seven suburbs with unsatisfactory mass transit is the high cost of houses. Mt Ommaney has a median price of $800,500, while Bulimba median price is at just a little over $1 million. Mr Dow also pointed out that these suburbs do not have good access to trains and their bus networks are poorly structured.
Despite the lack of public transport, real estate agents say that residents and buyers are generally not bothered. Real estate in these areas is still in high demand even without the public transport.
Many people in wealthier suburbs own cars, so their main concern is focused on roads and infrastructure for private vehicles.
Mr Dow believes that public transport connectivity needs to be improved in the inner and middle ring suburbs. He believes that a stronger mass transit network is needed to future-proof these suburbs in case of demographic changes. “We think every demographic group needs public transport,” he said.
