Brisbane Metro popularity leads to overcrowding but fix coming in April

Brisbane’s new Metro is so popular the interim timetabling has led to a phenomenon called “bunching’’. But a fix for the overcrowding problem is coming soon.

Metro has been so popular commuters are reporting “bunching’’, with some buses packed and others empty. Picture: Richard Walker

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Brisbane’s new Metro is so popular the interim timetabling has led to a phenomenon called “bunching’’ but a fix for the overcrowding problem is coming next month, council has promised.

Commuters on the M2 route from the University of Queensland to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital have complained about multiple electric buses turning up to stops at almost the same time, with the leading bus too full to board.

Following buses were often near empty, but the M2 route did not allow the long, articulated buses to overtake full buses.

The problem was exacerbated by the 15-minute, non-peak hour intervals between vehicles, especially when they transitioned to five-minute intervals in peak periods.

Council transport chair, Councillor Ryan Murphy, said the problem should be resolved in April when Metro went to a “turn up and go’’ system with buses every five minutes throughout the day.

Ryan Murphy on board Brisbane Metro from UQ Lakes Station, St Lucia, last year. Picture: Richard Walker

Mr Murphy said Metro had proved massively popular since launching in January.

Patronage on the M2 route has jumped 17 per cent increase compared to route 66, which passed the same stops but was serviced by smaller, standard council buses.

“The staged implementation of Brisbane has started with around 590,000 trips taken to date,’’ he said.

“The staged introduction includes the rollout of Brisbane’s new bus network which will improve routes and deliver an additional 160,000 services a year.

“We are making the step change from public transport to mass transit. As we deliver more services at higher frequency passengers will experience less delays and more reliable services.’’

Bunching can be caused by a range of factors including disruptions to the road network and an increase in traffic on a busway.

The next two parts of Brisbane Metro’s staged implementation plan would begin to address bunching.

In April, M2 would move from a timetabled service, to turn-up-and-go service which should improve on-time running and reduce bunching.

Bus union boss Tom Brown. Picture: Liam Kidston

In the second quarter of this year, the M1 route from the inner-city to Springwood and Brisbane’s New Bus Network would launch.

This would remove hundreds of buses from the busway in any given hour, further reducing congestion and bunching.

Bus union state secretary Tom Brown said his members were aware of the bunching issue.

“It is due in part to passengers waiting up to 15 mins during off peak time, as the Metro runs to the 66 timetable and not the M2 times yet,’’ he said.

“However, drivers report no letting up on patronage throughout the day.

“The vehicles cannot overtake on the busway it must happen at a station.’’