RACQ says city tram network could help ease transport issue

The solution to South East Queensland’s troubled public transport system is to re-establish the city’s tram network, but not as Brisbane once knew it, the state’s peak motoring group says.

The solution to South East Queensland’s troubled public transport system is to re-establish the city’s tram network using European-style electric bus gliders, according to the state’s peak motoring group.

The innovative plan from RACQ for a glider network would improve connectivity between the city’s rail, bus and Metro networks and solve one of the biggest barriers to people in Brisbane using public transport – convenience.

It comes as every major council in the region sounds the warning over how they will maintain liveability in their communities in the midst of huge expected population growth and a lack of investment in transport infrastructure.

A Glider bus in use in Belfast, in a similar set-up to an RACQ proposal for Brisbane.

RACQ head of public policy Dr Michael Kane said the region could not afford to increase density in existing areas or approve housing developments in greenfield sites without adequate public, active and road transport infrastructure.

“We are pushing for the development of the city glider. We need something in the short term because we’ve got this record growth and the State Government has come out and said ‘we are going to support gentle density’, but if you do there needs to be the planning and delivery of better public transport,” he said.

Transport has been identified as a key reason Brisbane is behind all other major Australian capital cities in the world’s pre-eminent liveability rankings, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The Courier-Mail and Sunday-Mail’s Future Brisbane series will focus on liveability and address key areas the River City needs to address to climb up the world rankings including transport, housing, culture and climate.

Dr Kane said the Irish city of Belfast provided the perfect blueprint for how the glider could be successfully integrated.

They are shorter in length than Brisbane Metro vehicles, can operate on existing road corridors that have priority bus lanes and could be rolled out quickly.

Dr Kane said the gliders, which are lower to the ground and capable of carrying more than 100 passengers, have three doors and are a much smoother ride than traditional buses.

Dr Michael Kane is RACQÕs Head of Public Policy. Picture: Tara Croser

“We are saying that can be extended into suburbia by using a smaller version and having some of these services run east-west on the Gold Coast to support the tram and existing light rail,” he said.

“You don’t have to have all these running into Brisbane, you can have them to provide local services connecting to rail.”

Dr Dorina Pojani, an urban planning Associate Professor at the University of Queensland’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning, said mass transit services were critical to solving Brisbane’s growing traffic problems, and warned the region could not build its way out of congestion.

“Here in Brisbane, we already have too much road space. Adding tunnels and car overpasses won’t help either. We will create induced demand – if we expand our road infrastructure we will only increase demand for it,” Dr Pojani said.

“The only way is to shift people to mass transit, get more people on the same vehicle … people don’t take public transport because it’s not there, it's not available to them. We need to fix that.”

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner also believes the future of public transport lies in fully-electric Metro vehicles serviced by a network of bus rapid transitways.

Cr Schrinner said incorporating transitways along existing road corridors was cheaper and far more effective than trying to build heavy rail lines through built-up Brisbane suburbs.

“Brisbane is Australia’s fastest growing capital city and that’s creating opportunities and challenges for our city,” he said.

“We need a proper transport plan to cater for our growth and all three levels of government will need to be involved.

“Our council is already delivering two Brisbane Metro lines connecting 18 stations between Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street, and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and the University of Queensland,” he said.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“There is significant scope to expand Brisbane Metro services east to Capalaba, north to Chermside and out to Brisbane Airport in the future.”

Ipswich City Mayor Teresa Harding said data from the Department of Transport and Main Roads revealed that Ipswich had the least amount spent on it in the south east by a significant margin.

She said despite adding 62,000 extra residents between 2011 to 2021 – more than the entire population of the Gladstone region – Gladstone received more money from the state for transport than Ipswich.

In the city of Logan Mayor Darren Power said he had real concerns over the financial viability of his council’s ability to provide transport.

“We don’t have the money to build the road network needed to get residents around and because there’s no public transport people will have to heavily rely on the car,” Cr Power said.

And in Moreton Bay, Mayor Peter Flannery said residents had been complaining for years that their access to public transport was mediocre.

He said he was concerned about projected population growth and had lobbied the state and federal governments for better infrastructure.

“I’m trying to get them out of that mindset of band aid solutions and let’s look for new innovative ideas, moving people around and we want to stop people being drawn to the city … let’s move the jobs out of the CBD because the draw of working to the city is causing the problems on the Bruce Highway,” he said.