31 Oct 2013: SEQ: BCC Bus Cost Explosion engulfs Bardon, Paddington ...

[ozbob]

Media release 31st October 2013



SEQ: BCC Bus Cost Explosion engulfs Bardon, Paddington and Kangaroo Point

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers says that residents of Bardon, Paddington and Kangaroo Point have been given a raw deal by the recent bus network review conducted by Brisbane City Council.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The effect of Brisbane City Council opposing the TransLink bus review has caused frequency cuts to bus routes in many areas - including in Cr Peter Matic's own ward. While the creation of a new route, the 234, to replace the eastern section of the 475, is welcome news, this has come at a serious cost to the community."

"The 234 and 475 have both had their frequency reduced to every hour in the off-peak, taking a huge toll on the immobile and disabled. Pensioners in Kangaroo Point are up in arms about how a trip from Kangaroo Point to the PA, which used to take them 15 minutes, now takes them over an hour (1)."

"Such reductions are not due to a forced transfer, but due to the severe reduction in frequency in Kangaroo Point. The TransLink bus review proposed the retention of the 475 on similar frequency, with the current 234 to be upgraded into an outer loop with frequency better than that on the 475."

"Instead, BCC has chosen to stick with a hi-waste anti-connection bus network, which has forced cuts to successful bus routes, in order to retain hi-waste routes such as the 161, 232 and 314. Why is it that the residents of Kangaroo Point, Bardon and Paddington are being forced to pay even more on top of their council rates for BCC to run the bus network, even though these residents are suffering from severe cutbacks in service?"

"This very same network is the network which also has buses passing through the core point in the network, Cultural Centre busway station, at 50% loads, losing significant amounts of money that could be put towards service improvements for users of the 234 and 475. Yet Graham Quirk still says with a straight face that '...the bus network is not broken and does not need revolutionary change ...'."

"The Lord Mayor and BCC can no longer be trusted to run Brisbane's buses. After a decade of games, it's time to dump Brisbane City Council and separate Brisbane Transport."

Reference:

1. Pensioner protest over bus route changes http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/pensioner-protest-over-bus-route-changes-20131030-2whig.html

Contact:

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

[ozbob]

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