Commuter crush worsens

[ozbob]

Commuter crush worsens

From Courier Mail Dec 3  click here!

MORE than a third of Brisbane buses run late during peak hour along with one in five trains, a new study has found.

A survey conducted by The Courier-Mail and QUT has found that nearly half of the city's buses are running late by four minutes or more.

Of the 35 buses surveyed, 15 were running behind schedule by four minutes or more ? the "on time" benchmark used by Queensland Rail for the city's commuter trains. One in five of the city's peak-hour trains were found to be behind time as well after a survey of 44 services.

The study was conducted to test the reliability and performance of Brisbane's public transport network, which commuters regularly complain is overstretched and running late.

The survey took place during the morning and afternoon peak hours on Wednesday, November 21 ? when public transport patronage begins to wane in the lead-up to the Christmas holiday period.

While the survey called into question public transport reliability, it also exposed the conditions commuters endured.

The latest official statistics from Brisbane City Council show more than 100 buses a week are too full to stop for extra passengers.

Our study found one in four of the city's buses was too full to accept any more passengers during peak hour, leaving commuters stranded.

In one case, The Courier-Mail saw four buses on the south-east busway driving past waiting commuters because they were overcrowded.

Our survey also found one in four trains and just as many buses were considered overcrowded.

Some of the busiest train lines included the notorious Gold Coast to Brisbane line, dubbed the Bombay Express, the Ferny Grove line and the route to Shorncliffe.

While public transport in Brisbane has struggled to keep pace with population growth in recent years, the situation for western suburbs commuters is set to get worse, with construction of the Hale St Bridge.

Delays of up to 50 minutes inbound are predicted on Coronation Drive when construction reaches its peak next year.

Brisbane City Council will encourage motorists to avoid the chaos by switching to public transport, a move likely to increase crowding on trains and CityCats.

Over the past four years, public transport use in Brisbane has skyrocketed, with bus patronage up 32 per cent.

In four years, CityCats patronage has swelled from 3.6 million people a year to more than 6 million. 

Editorial Courier Mail Dec 3

Council moves slowly on improving public transport

Click here here!

IT IS universally recognised that public transport in large metropolitan areas makes good environmental sense.

Fewer cars mean less urban congestion and less greenhouse gas emissions.

But commuters would hardly know Brisbane City Council is on public transport's side.

A Courier-Mail-QUT joint survey has found that up to a third of our trains and buses regularly run more than four minutes late, with many more too full to accept waiting passengers.

Brisbane residents are to be commended for increasing their use of public transport. It is now up to BCC to meet that demand and not find itself waiting in the queue.

[ozbob]

Thanks to the Courier Mail for highlighting these public transport deficiencies. The answer is to dramatically ramp up rail. We have congestion already on the buses with a limited capacity to introduce more. Already reaching maximum bus density in the CBD and on the bus-ways at peak (eg. SE bus-way as previously highlighted by the C-M).

Rail can easily double capacity at peak if the Government funds QR Citytrain appropriately. A train can carry 800 commuters easily. At RAIL Back On Track we are interested in improving outcomes for the citizens of SEQ.

We also need immediate commencement of construction of Darra to Springfield, Petrie to Kippa-Ring, triplication of Darra to Redbank and a further new 44 3 car trains with crew. We would be then better placed for a sustainable transport future.