Brisbane’s broken public transport system laid bare in ridiculous two-hour trips across city

Brisbane’s public transport woes have been laid bare with residents forced into ridiculous multi-network commutes that take longer than driving. WATCH THE VIDEO

Residents in greater Brisbane suburbs are forced to sit through public transport commutes approaching two hours versus approximately 30 minutes for those who drive.

The Courier-Mail took two public transport journeys to outer Brisbane suburbs not in proximity to the city’s train network.

The longer of the two, from Bowen Hills to Capalaba, required a train journey into the CBD, a bus from Anzac Square to Carindale, then another bus from there to Capalaba bus station.

From touching on at 8:46am on a Thursday to touching off at Capalaba, 18 kilometres away as the crow flies, took one hour and 43 minutes, for those relegated to public transport.

The quickest car journey between the two destinations would have taken between 26 to 40 minutes.

Brisbane public transport. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

The Courier Mail’s exercise saw a 17 minute wait between the train at Central Station and the 212 bus arriving.

After 44 minutes, passing 39 stops and getting off the bus at Carindale shopping centre, the wait for the 270 bus was 16 minutes.

From there after 17 minutes and 11 stops the final destination was met.

A woman in her 50s at the Capalaba bus station said she had only recently started taking public transport due to a surgery two weeks prior.

She said that while still able to get to work and appointments herself, her commutes now required careful planning and time allotment to navigate transfers and plenty of missed and cancelled services.

Another route taken by The Courier-Mail was from Bowen Hills to Arana Hills, typically an 18 to 40 minute drive, stretched close to an hour after a train and a bus.

Commuters using public transport at Brisbane’s Southbank station. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jono Searle

Other public transport routes from inner Brisbane to its outer suburbs provided challenging commutes according to Translink’s journey planner.

A morning journey from Albany Creek Tavern to Bowen Hills station will take at least an hour and six minutes on a bus and a train, versus a 20 to 50 minute drive depending on traffic.

From Brighton, north of Brisbane, to the same destination would require a 26 to 45 minute drive, pushing out to at least an hour and three minutes on a bus and train.

Starting at Brookfield in the city’s southwest, one would need to take an hour long bus and train journey where a car could be driven to Bowen Hills in 35 minutes, traffic depending.