Fix the buses before rail, says business case expert

A retired engineer who worked on business cases for major coal and energy fears the mass transit plan study has missed the mark.

A RETIRED engineer who worked on business cases for major coal and energy projects worth more than $500 million each fears the mass transit business case process may have failed to properly define the problem.

Mooloolaba resident John Malloy said the state of the region’s bus service was a massive issue, and better servicing the community with flexible solutions should be at the heart of any mass transit and transport study.

He questioned whether a fixed rail line along the coastline was the best way to address current congestion problems which were set to worsen as the population increased.

“Why is there no investment in a distributor bus network now?” he said.

“All this talk about a smart city and we’ve got this mid-1960s bus service running around.”

He said council was not to blame for the lack of investment by TransLink in its fleet, and he questioned whether the lack of competition in the public transport sector was beneficial for the region.

“People’s attitude and behaviour towards traffic will change,” Mr Malloy said.

“They’ll want more lean and green and flexibility.”

Mr Malloy said driving behavioural change would be crucial to the success of any future public transport system and he proposed a free to use, electric, low emission fleet in future, with designated bus lanes, to encourage people out of their cars.

He said a lack of investment in the current bus fleet and the lack of flexibility in timetabling and services was the problem at present.

“The buses will be different in 30 years’ time, they’ll get people to their doors,” Mr Malloy said.

The current mass transit studies under way identified light rail as the preferred option, and it would be one piece of a broader transport network.

Critical to the network was the future of heavy rail duplication or a faster rail link to Brisbane, while east-west connectivity through buses had been flagged as important in delivering access to both heavy rail and light rail networks.

Mr Malloy said he’d seen in other cities a gradual progression towards light rail, from dedicated bus lanes to rapid bus services, which once at capacity were transformed into light rail systems.

“The question is what kind of public transport system does the Coast want?” Mr Malloy said.

“The problem needs to be around improving the community (and services) and having a solution for the next 30 years.”

The mass transit preliminary business case to be considered by council mid-2020.

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