RAIL - Back On Track Forum

ABC News --> Greens make election promise to fight Brisbane's car dependency with more crossings, cycle lanes

QuoteKey points:

The Brisbane Greens' proposal comes ahead of the Brisbane City Council election in March

Under the plan, more pedestrian crossings, bike lanes and footpaths would be built

LNP deputy mayor Krista Adams says it is a "reckless" idea, which will cost ratepayers ...

Is it just me or is the

ALP election platform - "We'll build a great city" and

LNP's - "There is an election?"

https://x.com/UnwalkableBris1/status/1748612125910806695?s=20

Couriermail 23rd January 2024 page 13

QuoteCITY TRANSPORT SHAKE-UP

Brisbane Labor will axe all future funding to inner-city transport projects, including the Brisbane Metro, and redirect spending to suburban works as part of a major transport overhaul.

The Labor Party announced it would also halve the price of all Brisbane bus fares if it won the council election in March. The party plans to redirect $1bn worth of spending towards traffic calming and safe school projects, intersection updates, safe cycling pathway updates and public transport initiatives in an effort to curb Brisbane's congestion.

A Labor-led council would spend $110m implementing the 50 per cent fare discount on Zone 1 and Zone 2 bus routes, which it estimates would save commuters about $1000 a year. ...

Another sign of the dysfunction with PT in SEQ.

https://www.traceyforbrisbane.com.au/our-policies

Full policy document ' THE PRICE IS RIGHT FOR BRISBANE'S TRANSPORT ' > here PDF

Quote... Public Transport

A Labor Council would undertake the following initiatives:
- Cheaper public transport
o Labor would implement a 50% discount on Zone 1 and Zone 2 fares on
Brisbane's buses. This would save commuters around $1000 a year in
fares.
o Based on current fare figures, this represents an investment of $110 million,
making travel more accessible in the current cost of living crisis.
- Making buses more accessible and more frequent
o Through Labor's previously announced Mobility Plan, we would make bus
stops more accessible with connecting footpaths to bus stops a priority.
o $10 million business case to extend the Northern Transit Way on Gympie
Road to Aspley (contingent on the Gympie Road Tunnel Business Case).
o Labor will bring bus manufacturing back to Brisbane. Building buses
locally will mean there are more buses to service the suburbs of Brisbane, as
well as more secure jobs in the manufacturing industry.
o Night services would be extended, with fareboxes being turned off
between midnight and 5am ensuring people have a safe and affordable way
of getting home from the City and the Valley.
o Prioritise the fitting of more driver barriers on existing buses, as well as
requiring them on all new buses to keep our hard-working frontline bus
drivers safe.
o More security vehicles and guards on night services will also improve safety
for drivers and passengers at night. ...

Pretty uninspiring public transport policy when you get down to it.
I guess fare cuts are always going to be a winner at the present time, and there would be no convincing them that investing in services is a better use of the money.

Interesting that the doc lists a fare revenue table all the way up to zone 8. I wonder if that's for continuations involving a BCC bus or is that just, y'know, all of TransLink.

Also agree with Gazza, it's very frustrating. Headine "more accessible and more frequent" but then no actual policies to improve all-day frequency (which doesn't really require more buses!)

 

Also, WTF about this about cancelling uncontracted parts of the Metro?

From the SEQ Rail connects document

QuoteIntegration with Brisbane Metro
and light rail
We are working with Brisbane City Council to ensure its
Brisbane Metro project is integrated with the broader
public transport network and complements the outcomes
set out in SEQ Rail Connect. The Australian Government
has committed $300 million to progress Brisbane Metro,
and as part of SEQ City Deal a further $450 million
has been committed by the Australian Government,
Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council for the
new Brisbane Metro station at Woolloongabba.

Brisbane metro is well underway, as in the depot is half built, Okeefe st half dug up for the expansion of Buranda, the new tunnel under Adelaide St. This is the plan that has been committed to and expected by all involved.
Cancelling further works would mean all that money spent to date is wasted, or wont work efficiently without the final pieces going ahead.

ABC News --> Labor pledges to cut bus fares in half in Brisbane City Council election pitch

Quote... LNP transport civic cabinet chair Ryan Murphy suggested Labor's plan meant there could be no future expansions on the Brisbane Metro beyond the existing lines which are due to open in 2024.

He also hit out at Labor's proposal to halve the price of bus fares.

"We don't agree that it's Brisbane ratepayers' job to subsidise the state government on fares," Mr Murphy said.

"It will mean Brisbane ratepayers will be shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars every year for residents in other council areas ... to drive into Brisbane, and to catch Brisbane buses and crowd Brisbane buses because fares will be much cheaper in Brisbane than they will in the rest of South East Queensland." ...

I think Cr Murphy is correct on this. 

Rocket Rod blew it in 2016 with stupid fare cut policies, history repeating ...

Give you an example already what is happening.

Seniors get free travel on BCC buses off peak.  So punters travel into Brisbane on the train, say from Goodna $1.74 off peak.  Wait an hour.  Get a BCC bus touch on, short ride.  Touch off. This free journey is counted towards the two journey cap. Wait an hour, then travel free on any mode. Travel to Gympie North and back for  free if so inclined. Cost for the day $1.74.   

We need consistent equitable fare policy and structure for all across SEQ.

This just further highlights how broken PT is really in SEQ.

Fire the cannon!
Bad policy spotted on the radar!

Dumb.

Wouldn't be surprised if the ALP run third in this election - they would deserve it with nonsense like this.

Quote from: SurfRail on January 23, 2024, 14:51:05 PMDumb.

Wouldn't be surprised if the ALP run third in this election - they would deserve it with nonsense like this.

Yes, gone already is my feeling.

Quote from: #Metro on January 23, 2024, 14:34:30 PMFire the cannon!
Bad policy spotted on the radar!

Couriermail --> Labor announces Brisbane transport shake-up $

QuoteBrisbane Labor will axe all future funding to inner city transport projects, including the Brisbane Metro, and redirect spending to suburban works as part of a major transport overhaul.

The Labor Party has announced it will halve the price of all Brisbane bus fares if it wins the council election in March as part of a significant transport plan that would see existing metro project funding redirected to suburban infrastructure.

The party plans to redirect $1 billion worth of spending towards traffic calming and safe school projects, intersection updates, safe cycling pathway updates and public transport initiatives in an effort to curb Brisbane's crippling congestion.

A Labor-led council would spend $110 million implementing the 50 per cent fare discount on Zone 1 and Zone 2 bus routes which it estimates would save commuters around $1000 a year. ...

^

Quote... LNP spokeswoman for the Team Schrinner campaign Fiona Cunningham has called Labor's transport plan a "diabolically dishonest announcement".

"It attempts to respend money already invested delivering fully-electric turn-up-and-go Brisbane Metro services across a network of 18 stations," she said on Tuesday.

"It attempts to spend fare money that belongs to the State Government, not Brisbane City Council.

"Worst of all, it attempts to spend money that simply doesn't exist."

Ms Cunningham said the $1billion transport commitment was a blunder for Labor's lord mayoral candidate Tracey Price and it would only be paid for through rate hikes. ...

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/labor-announces-brisbane-transport-shakeup/news-story/d62058bcf887f82c4a6accab38d45440

Big misstep to omit more Buz routes.

"...Congestion Building Projects".

Now that is a Freudian Slip!!!!

Brisbanetimes --> Labor's 'nuts' half-price bus ticket policy for Brisbane panned $

QuoteLabor's plan to woo Brisbane voters with half-price bus tickets has not gone down well with south-east Queensland's top public transport boffin, who called it a "nuts" vote grab that would have a negative impact on service delivery.

Lord mayoral candidate Tracey Price announced the $110 million commitment for 50 per cent fare discounts on all zone one and two fares in Brisbane on Tuesday.

"We're hoping that all the people across Brisbane will benefit, so from Bracken Ridge out to Wynnum, out to The Gap, everyone will benefit as a result of being able to jump on a bus for half the price," Price said.

But what if a commuter had the option of either catching a bus or a train?

Robert Dow, from public transport advocacy group Rail Back on Track, said the half-price bus policy would be a disincentive for that commuter to catch the more efficient mode of public transport.

Dow said that would add more pressure to council bus services and, by extension, the road network.

"What it will do is impact on service delivery, it will imbalance the other modes and has the potential to let rail be underutilised again, which is not good," he said.

"We should be maxing up our rail usage and using the buses to feed rail, not the other way around.

"This is nuts." ...

This is just as bad as "Fare Free Friday" from one of the previous Labor Mayoral candidates a long while back.

Quote from: ozbob on January 23, 2024, 14:20:10 PMABC News --> Labor pledges to cut bus fares in half in Brisbane City Council election pitch

Quote... LNP transport civic cabinet chair Ryan Murphy suggested Labor's plan meant there could be no future expansions on the Brisbane Metro beyond the existing lines which are due to open in 2024.

He also hit out at Labor's proposal to halve the price of bus fares.

"We don't agree that it's Brisbane ratepayers' job to subsidise the state government on fares," Mr Murphy said.

"It will mean Brisbane ratepayers will be shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars every year for residents in other council areas ... to drive into Brisbane, and to catch Brisbane buses and crowd Brisbane buses because fares will be much cheaper in Brisbane than they will in the rest of South East Queensland." ...

I think Cr Murphy is correct on this. 

Rocket Rod blew it in 2016 with stupid fare cut policies, history repeating ...

I wouldn't expand Metro either but not for the reasons here but because it reduces capacity!! The last thing we need.

I would review Metro for those reasons alone!!

The new BRT fleet could be deployed where they add capacity!!

What a bloody joke. Do the lnp have to even bother this election??

If this actually gets up (unlikely) will Translink block it? Or will they just do whatever BCC says.

QuoteThe policy would cost $110 million per year to implement and the half-price discount would apply to all fare types, including concession tickets.

Do you know how many BUZ routes this is? This is about 26 BUZ route equivalents.

Enough BUZ service to fix the network.   

I can just see it now - everyone who catches the Clarks peak hour buses getting off their buses at Eight Mile Plains to cram onto subsidised 111s instead. No room for BCC residents catching the buses between Upper Mt Gravatt and Cultural Centre - they'll be reaching for their Uber apps.

And then there's the hundreds of Logan and Gold Coast train commuters exiting each train en masse at Altandi Station, stampeding through the carpark and across Mains Road, then squeezing onto the already half full 13X & 14X services. Once again, BCC residents at Sunnybank Plaza or the Mains Rd Park n Ride will be sh!t outta luck!

Sent to all outlets:

Comments on ' THE PRICE IS RIGHT FOR BRISBANE'S TRANSPORT '

24th January 2024

RAIL Back On Track wishes to express our disappointment with comments by ALP BCC Lord Mayor Candidate Tracey Price that she would "axe all future funding to inner city transport projects, including the Brisbane Metro"

Despite some criticisms, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Brisbane Metro is a project we fundamentally support because it gets the busway running more efficiently, with consolidated routes and larger vehicles, and a tunnel under Adelaide street which will speed up services.

It has allowed for a redesign of bus services on the southside that will increase the number of high frequency services. There's no point in demonising projects in the inner city, if these are where the most severe capacity bottlenecks exist.

At this point, the project is nearing completion, and a lot of future planning has been done on the basis it will exist, such as for the new Woolloongabba BRT Metro station funded as part of the SEQ city deal.

For Tracey Price to come out and say she will cancel any uncommitted contracts is short sighted and destructive. The project needs to be finished, and taking away funding now at this critical stage will leave us with a half baked busway and BRT Metro project that doesn't work as intended.

We generally don't support candidates running on a platform of cancelling public transport projects.

Secondly, we were disappointed that there are still no specific commitments to boost high frequency bus services.

The reality is, many future rail and busway extensions are years away, and establishing more high frequency bus corridors is something we can be doing in the meantime to make public transport more useful to more people.

Everton Park, Wynnum West, the Centenary Suburbs, Acacia Ridge, Richlands, Balmoral ...the list goes on.
There are huge swathes of Brisbane that are kilometres away from any form of frequent bus service.
How many years to residents have to patiently wait to get a decent frequent service in their area?

Finally, we are disappointed that the policy for half price fares, on BCC buses only, in zones 1&2 only is taking such a lions share of the proposed spending.

By applying the discount to buses only, the usage of the network will become less efficient since it becomes cheaper to use low capacity buses instead of high capacity trains in the same zone. We have an integrated fare structure/policy in SEQ and needs to remain that way for the benefit off all.  We have a new Smart Ticketing roll-out well advanced, this will allow for new fare products.

We understand that there are cost of living pressures, but the best way to help Brisbane residents save money is to give them a public transport system they can make use of more times per week.

There are large number of residents forced to spend money on driving because their public transport options are too inconvenient. What are we doing for them?

Any candidate that focuses instead of blanketing Brisbane in a comprehensive grid of frequent buses, connecting well with rail services, has our full support.

Reference:

Policy document ' THE PRICE IS RIGHT FOR BRISBANE'S TRANSPORT '
https://www.traceyforbrisbane.com.au/our-policies

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

Facebook ...

Quote from: ozbob on January 23, 2024, 15:38:27 PMCouriermail --> Labor announces Brisbane transport shake-up $

QuoteBrisbane Labor will axe all future funding to inner city transport projects, including the Brisbane Metro, and redirect spending to suburban works as part of a major transport overhaul.

TIL that Eight Mile Plains is in the inner city.

Looks like the ALP just bought themselves another 4 years out of City Hall.

Facebook ...

This is just embarrassing for all.  If the State Government had acted in line with the CRU recommendations to establish a proper public transport authority, we wouldn't have these stupid cut price fare policies being floated by LM candidates. They would be sticking, quite rightly to roads, rubbish and rates!

Until we get a State Government with the courage to do what is right, we will continue to be a public transport outlier in the mediocrity quadrant.

Yeah, the mask has certainly fallen off a bit.
Seems like the ideas among leaders here are more similar to Adelaide than WA, NSW or Vic.

https://x.com/railbotforum/status/1749943237853458523?s=20

https://x.com/railbotforum/status/1749943962620875159?s=20

A lot of the Tracey Price policies seem to be variations or recycled from the Rod Harding brochure (which RBOT has a copy of).

Connecting Brisbane, Rod Harding (2015)
https://backontrack.org/docs/bccvotes15/Connecting_Brisbane.pdf

https://x.com/ozbob13/status/1751053178290978829?s=20

I posted this on Mark Baileys FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/MarkBaileyMP/posts/pfbid02mwGQEBKpsjt8f2br5WV8QY6TXiYD2xGBGztyHW1EhmoQPzL4wtBdpArBiCm1AEUdl?comment_id=1601320980611814 

He might hide it ... 

QuoteRobert Dow
Would you support this half-fare price bus vote bait if you were still Minister for Transport Mark Bailey MP ? Be interesting to know what Bart Mellish MP thinks? You know such a fare policy will cause a lot of boundary issues and inappropriate mode shares. Smart Ticketing roll out is nearing completion. That is the time for improved fare products e.g. equivalent of periodical tickets and so, for ALL of SEQ, and regional QLD. This BCC stuff is farcical sadly. It detracts from proper policies, which Ms Tracey Price for Lord Mayor has some there. It is pity that the ' voter bait ' has been rolled out again. Most certainly with the same result that was the previous attempt by Rocket Rod. Cheers Robert

Also this:

https://www.facebook.com/MarkBaileyMP/posts/pfbid02mwGQEBKpsjt8f2br5WV8QY6TXiYD2xGBGztyHW1EhmoQPzL4wtBdpArBiCm1AEUdl?comment_id=240982072298511

QuoteThe fare structure is for SEQ as a whole. It is absurd to be offering half price bus fares in Brisbane. I doubt it will ever be implemented, much the same as the vote for me bait floated by Rod Harding with Fare Free Fridays, remember? That went nowhere and so will this. https://www.facebook.com/RAILBackOnTrack/posts/781691343997723

When you have an ex-Transport Minister locked into bizarre party partisan destructive ' voter buys '  you know it is a lost cause.  If we could only get a Government that would do the right thing. 
Team Schrinner will win comfortably is my guess.  His little tirade about the bus funding is a way of showing that the half-price bus fares stuff will cost big time.

This $110 million for this populist fares policy has a huge opportunity cost.

It would forgo funding 25 new BUZ services, for example. Possibly more if the State agreed to co-funding.

Every BUZ service introduced to date has demonstrated enormous patronage growth, even in the off-peak and on weekends. See BUZ Routes, Frequency + Reliability - the winning formula https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/6058

Ms Price's election policy is just going to blow up the budget that could have been used for more BUZ services. More BUZ services are something that RBOT has been calling for over 10 years.

To be fair to the fare cutters, we can do that "overnight". I don't think it's possible to drop 25 new BUZ routes overnight.

We have the vehicles to spare off-peak (though in the long run this puts more kilometres on them each year), but we don't necessarily have the driver hours available (just in terms of fatigue and staff availability). We also probably don't have enough vehicles or drivers for counter-peak service (because service runs are generally slower than dead runs, the total fleet-hours in peak go up).

Could we ramp to 25 newly BUZzed routes in a ~year if the will was there and with a bit of prep work? I think so.