In its first six months of operation, the
South East Busway in Brisbane, Australia, has shown a 40 percent increase, in ridership.
The busway, which travel through both inner and southern suburbs, was constructed and
opened in April by the state government of Queensland, where Brisbane is the capital.
The 10-mile South East Busway, carrying an average of 60,000 passengers a day,
stretches from the city center out to Eight Mile Plains in the city's south. According to
the city of Brisbane, the busway has the potential to carry I 1,000 people an hour in each
direction to and from the city, significantly reducing traffic congestion and improving
the livability of Brisbane for future generations.
Construction has already begun on an Inner Northern Busway that will link the central
business district to the Royal Brisbane Hospital, with the completion of the first stage
expected in December 2003.
South East Queensland is centered on the city of Brisbane, extending to Noosa in the
north, the Gold Coast in the south, and Toowoornba in the west. The region had a
population of approximately 2.5million in 2000. Projections show that rapid population
growth in this region is expected to continue well into this century, greatly impacting
the region's transport system.
The government's challenge was to develop a transport system that would accommodate
both the cur-rent levels and future increases of transport activity. Busways were selected
as they were found to be relatively cost-effective and more flexible than rail networks in
reaching passengers in low-density suburbs.
The busway stations have been developed, at key nodes to serve major activity centers.
They allow buses to serve low, density communities, collecting passengers on local roads
and then joining the busway to avoid peak hour congestion.
This planned network of busways is considered important in the creation of an
integrated public transport system for the city, a spokesperson said. Busways can
encourage residents to increase their usage of buses as an efficient, fast, and reliable
form of public transport.
Following a recent visit to Brisbane, Hans Rat, secretary general of the International
Union of Public Transport (UITP), congratulated the Queensland government on the
development of the South East Busway. "I believe that Brisbane is now at the leading
edge in urban mass transit, and nowhere is this more evident than in the new busway that
the government has created," he said. "The [buswayl development will attract
international attention for the level of quality and customer focus that [has been]
incorporated."
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