8 Sep 2015: Lord Mayor and BCC still cannot be trusted to run city's buses

[ozbob]

Media release 8th September 2015




Brisbane: Lord Mayor and BCC still cannot be trusted to run city's buses

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 calls for Deputy Premier Jackie Trad to terminate Brisbane City Council's public transport responsibilities.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Almost three years ago we called for public transport to be removed from Brisbane City Council. Council had cancelled proposed bus upgrades to 'black hole' areas such as Bulimba, Yeronga, Albany Creek and The Centenary Suburbs. In our opinion, an inadequate bus review was substituted, which failed to fix any of the major problems such as service duplication, wasteful bus-train competition and network complexity - all factors that drove a fares cost explosion."

"Since then patronage has been going one way: down, down, down.

"The excuses are running out. We had been warning constantly that failure to reform the bus network would lead to mass patronage losses, and a fares and subsidy cost explosion.

"Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's bus 'evolution, not revolution' has hands-down failed. Two years of this failing program is more than enough evidence to judge it by. At 4 bus route changes per year, it would take 50 years to review Brisbane's c.a. 200-route bus network. That is just unacceptable.

"Brisbane needs a modern, reformed public transport network like Houston or Auckland. And it doesn't have to cost much more than the current network. If the Mayor of Auckland can hire the ex-head of Brisbane Transport to comprehensively reform Auckland's entire bus network, which is now registering spectacular growth, we can do also, rather than sit here debating how controversial it must be to have buses pull up to a train station and unload interchange passengers."

"Costs are going through the roof, and patronage is going through the floor. We are actually now paying MORE money for LESS passengers."

Bus reforms must now proceed. We detail our proposals here:

Bus reform - our proposal media releases grouped - http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11099.0
New Bus Network Proposal - http://tiny.cc/newnetwork
Current BCC Bus Network - http://tiny.cc/checkyourbus

"The sooner the Lord Mayor and Brisbane City Council is stripped of transport functions, the sooner genuine reform of rail and bus networks can go ahead, and the sooner we can look forward to abundant and low-cost public transport for all."

Contact:

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

References:

27 Apr 2013: Lord Mayor and BCC can no longer be trusted to run city's buses
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9895.0

6 Jan 2015: Brisbane City Council's Bus Network - What Went Wrong?
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11175.msg151940

Blame game as Brisbane commuters abandon buses
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/blame-game-as-brisbane-commuters-abandon-buses-20150907-gjh4tf.html

[ozbob]

Discussion --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11047.msg160952#msg160952

[ozbob]

Media release 8th September 2015 re-released 24th October 2015



Brisbane: Lord Mayor and BCC still cannot be trusted to run city's buses

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 calls for Deputy Premier Jackie Trad to terminate Brisbane City Council's public transport responsibilities.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Almost three years ago we called for public transport to be removed from Brisbane City Council. Council had cancelled proposed bus upgrades to 'black hole' areas such as Bulimba, Yeronga, Albany Creek and The Centenary Suburbs. In our opinion, an inadequate bus review was substituted, which failed to fix any of the major problems such as service duplication, wasteful bus-train competition and network complexity - all factors that drove a fares cost explosion."

"Since then patronage has been going one way: down, down, down.

"The excuses are running out. We had been warning constantly that failure to reform the bus network would lead to mass patronage losses, and a fares and subsidy cost explosion.

"Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's bus 'evolution, not revolution' has hands-down failed. Two years of this failing program is more than enough evidence to judge it by. At 4 bus route changes per year, it would take 50 years to review Brisbane's c.a. 200-route bus network. That is just unacceptable.

"Brisbane needs a modern, reformed public transport network like Houston or Auckland. And it doesn't have to cost much more than the current network. If the Mayor of Auckland can hire the ex-head of Brisbane Transport to comprehensively reform Auckland's entire bus network, which is now registering spectacular growth, we can do also, rather than sit here debating how controversial it must be to have buses pull up to a train station and unload interchange passengers."

"Costs are going through the roof, and patronage is going through the floor. We are actually now paying MORE money for LESS passengers."

Bus reforms must now proceed. We detail our proposals here:

Bus reform - our proposal media releases grouped - http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11099.0
New Bus Network Proposal - http://tiny.cc/newnetwork
Current BCC Bus Network - http://tiny.cc/checkyourbus

"The sooner the Lord Mayor and Brisbane City Council is stripped of transport functions, the sooner genuine reform of rail and bus networks can go ahead, and the sooner we can look forward to abundant and low-cost public transport for all."

Contact:

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

References:

27 Apr 2013: Lord Mayor and BCC can no longer be trusted to run city's buses
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9895.0

6 Jan 2015: Brisbane City Council's Bus Network - What Went Wrong?
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11175.msg151940

Blame game as Brisbane commuters abandon buses
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/blame-game-as-brisbane-commuters-abandon-buses-20150907-gjh4tf.html

[ozbob]

Discussion --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11047.msg163171#msg163171