'Top Five public transport joyrides in Southeast Queensland'

[ozbob]

Spencer Howson 612 ABC Brisbane radio  asked me to come up with 5 ideas for new users of the go card to try out public transport. Short interview.
Great idea by Spencer!

Details --> click here!

Robert Dow from Rail-Back on Track has come up with his top five public transport day-trips from Brisbane:

5. Route 109 – Brisbane City to UQ Lakes (and return). Highlights: Busway – Boggo Road, Green Bridge UQ Lakes Via Boggo Rd Busway - Longest bus only tunnel in Australia. Adelaide St approaching George St (Stop 16) to catch the 109 Zones 1 -2 fare Adult go card $2.70 off-peak $2.43

4. Central to Cleveland (and return). Highlights: rail to the seaside. Fish and chips for lunch and local shopping at Cleveland. Interesting railway line, parts of it are still a snap shot in history. Zones 1 – 6 Adult go card $4.60 off peak $4.14

3. 77 bus Garden City to Chermside (and return) shopping tour ... Bus join at Garden City Travel on the south east busway (bus rapid transit, world class busway) and underneath the Brisbane river via the Clem 7. Zones 3 to 4 mystery fare? TransLink journey planner states fare included in next trip (probably 2 zone fare if stand alone).

2. Citycat UQ to Apollo Road and return. Great tour of the river, see the sights. Zones 1 -2 Zones 1 -2 fare Adult go card $2.70 off-peak $2.43

1. Roma St to Gympie North and return. Longest single rail journey on the TransLink network. Great run up through the Sunshine coast hinterland. Not much at Gympie North itself but not far from town. Zones 1 - 23 Adult go card Adult $14.20 off-peak $13.23

[ButFli]

Route 109? Really? The view out the window for the entire trip is a desolate nothingness of concrete. For us PT geebans it might be a thrill to travel through "Australia's longest bus-only tunnel" or over Brisbane's (Australia's?) only bus-only bridge but for the new-go-card-user PT-noob it is a very boring journey indeed.

Perhaps if you pointed out that 109 to UQ then transfer to a CityCat to Apollo Road was an easy connection I might be a little bit more foregiving.

[ozbob]

Each to their own, it is a good introduction to busways.  Doesn't matter what the journeys not all will agree.

It was a good news story and an opportunity to highlight the improvements to the system.

Cheers!

[colinw]

Indeed.

Might be worth noting that Gympie North is not doable in a day from Brisbane.  Cooroy is doable.

My fave has always been the train to Shorncliffe.  Love the character of that little terminus.

I'm also rather fond of the free footy specials on the busway from Eight Mile Plains to the 'Gabba on game days :-)

[ozbob]

Might be worth noting that Gympie North is not doable in a day from Brisbane.

Is doable in a day, as I pointed out in the interview.  Sunday up and back.  We have done it a few times.

[colinw]

   Didn't realise the Sunday timetable allowed that.  Now I have to go and do it myself 

[#Metro]

I have my own version of the rides.

599/598 : You could go to every major shopping centre in Brisbane (minus the CBD) if you can figure out the random timetable, the frequency and whether it was 599/598 that went clockwise (or anti-clockwise) (Seriously, if they marketed this bus as the shopaholics bus, it would attract many tourists. Maybe DFO could be added to the journey.)

105: Watch as you are taken on a 10-minute time-wasting looping detour during the height of peak hour through the back streets of Yeronga. An excellent tour for the in-laws.

470-Citybound: For those who like a lucky dip! Catch this bus and stay on it, and you could finish up at Everton Park, Mitchelton or the P.A. Hospital. Where you might end up, who knows.

470-Toowong bound: On selected services, a tour of the back streets of Toowong is included.

471 Mt-Coo-tha: This bus cuts off at 5pm, just when the summit restaurant begins serving dinner with a backdrop of brisbane lights. If you get stuck, you have to call a taxi or walk down the mountain in the dark.

[ozbob]

  

[p858snake]

FG -> Roma street, You get to go past manye for the train nuts and then there is the parklands at roma street for lunch (or for people that like nature photography).

[WTN]

FG -> Roma street, You get to go past manye for the train nuts and then there is the parklands at roma street for lunch (or for people that like nature photography).

And just past sunset or at night the Mayne yard becomes a spectacular light show with the CBD skyscrapers in the background. Roma St parklands and the city light up too.

For those seeking speed, a Gold Coast express could be just your ticket. Cruise past countryside and hinterlands at up to 140km/h.

Here's a few other shopaholics buses: the 204 (Old Cleveland Rd) and 175 (Logan Rd). These corridors are lined with plenty of shops, plus big shopping centres at both ends!