Worst bus routes, months for Brisbane bus cancellations

Almost 8000 bus routes in Brisbane alone were cancelled in the 12 months to February this year. An analysis of TransLink data reveals the most cancelled routes.

New figures have revealed the most cancelled bus services and the months when buses are least reliable. Picture: Brisbane City Council

Almost 8000 bus routes in Brisbane alone were cancelled in the 12 months to February this year, most due to a lack of drivers and traffic, but council insists its network beats industry standards.

TransLink also claimed more than 99 per cent of services ran as scheduled, but the bus union said its numbers could not be trusted as “part cancellations’’ were not recorded.

An analysis of TransLink tweets for the period from January 2024 to February this year revealed at least 7900 public transport services, mostly buses, were cancelled in the Brisbane City Council area alone.

The 100 bus route, running from Queen St station to shops at Forest Lake in the city’s southwest, had the most cancellations (487).

Two years ago, the 100 was also named as Brisbane’s most dangerous bus route.

Route 60 (CityGlider from West End to Newstead) had the second-highest number of cancellations (345) followed by route 340 (Carseldine station to the CBD) with 295 cancellations.

The Gold Coast had the highest total number of cancellations in the southeast after Brisbane, at 4085.

The Sunshine Coast came in third at 2786 cancellations, followed by Logan (1019), Ipswich (625) and Redlands (244).

In all areas “staff availability’’ was overwhelmingly the most common reason stated.

Traffic was a significant factor in Brisbane (1996 cancellations), followed by mechanical problems (750 for buses and 650 for trains).

Mechanical issues were also a significant issue on the Sunshine Coast.

TransLink said “staff availability’’ covered a range of scenarios which did not all involve bus driver absenteeism.

But Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Tom Brown claimed driver shortages were as bad as ever.

He said the figures understated the scale of the problem because part cancellations, where a bus driver completed only a section of a route, were not reported.

He said the situation had worsened in the past year due to pressure on drivers from high staff turnover, “impossible’’ deadlines and a trend for experienced new drivers from interstate to bypass councils for independent bus operators.

“Congestion is getting the blame these days as council can claim it’s out of their control to some extent,’’ Mr Brown said.

“Recruitment continues non stop but retention of drivers is an issue for them.

“Also recruitment and training takes too much time — several months — and many potential recruits lose interest or get another job while waiting.’’

The analysis of TransLink tweets revealed November last year had the most cancellations (875) in the year to February 2025.

State secretary of the bus union, Tom Brown. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE / John Gass

July last year was the second-worst month (826 cancellations) followed by October (710).

Council transport chair, Councillor Ryan Murphy, said patronage had boomed due to 50 cent fares and the start of the first Metro route.

“Brisbane’s bus network continues to operate well above industry standards, with more than 99 per cent of all bus services delivered as planned,’’ he said.

“The launch of Brisbane Metro has been a raging success, boosting patronage between Eight Mile Plains and UQ by more than 20 per cent in three months alone.

“The next phase of Brisbane Metro is just around the corner and we’ll deliver the biggest boost to bus services in generations with 160,000 new bus services to be added to the network.’’

Ryan Murphy on board Brisbane Metro. Picture: Richard Walker

Council said it recruited more than 500 new bus operators last year and another 146 so far this year.

As a result, bus driver shortages were no longer being experienced, it said.

Labor Opposition Leader, Councillor Jared Cassidy, said it was not surprising some of Brisbane’s busiest suburban bus routes had so many cancellations due to traffic “given we have been named the most congested city in Australia’’.

“I don’t know how this LNP Council can say Brisbane is a ‘bus city’ with a straight face when they are leaving these bus services stuck in gridlock,’’ he said.

“Dedicated busways for congestion free bus travel is essential to get Brisbane moving again. “What’s missing from this list of most-cancelled routes are those that travel on the South East Busway. That tells you a lot.’’

Additional Brisbane bus service figures have meanwhile surfaced, in answers to Questions on Notice (QONs) from the Labor Opposition.

The QONS revealed continued high staff turnover, with 479 bus drivers hired in the 12 months to December 2024. There are about 2600 drivers in total.

An average of 4379 services were also reported to the council bus control centre as “full standing load’’ in the year to January.

Council’s answers to the Opposition revealed that December 10 had the most cancellations of any day last year at 166, but council said that was less than 1 per cent of the 10,000-plus daily services.

November 14 had the next highest number of cancellations (148), followed by October 3 (147) and November 9 (145).

The most frequently cancelled routes included: the 100 (CBD to Forest Lake/Inala); 60 (West End to Teneriffe); 444 (CBD to Moggill); 333 (CBD to Chermside); 120 (CBD to Westfield Mt Gravatt); 130 (CBD to Stretton); and the 340 (Carseldine to Woolloongabba via CBD).

The QONs revealed that in the past six months about 1200 services were cancelled due to lack of staff, with 343 in November and 320 in October last year.

A TransLink spokesman said there were more than 500,000 monthly bus services across the southeast in a typical month.

“With about 6.5 million services timetabled to run over the reporting period, about 99.88 per cent of these services ran without cancellation,’’ he said.

“Queensland Rail operates more than 400,000 passenger service a year in SEQ, more than 8000 per week, and the financial year-to-date reliability for these services is 99.58 per cent.

“The greatest number of bus cancellations occur on high frequency routes. Buses run every 10 to 15 minutes on these routes.’’

SEE TransLink’S OFFICIAL RELIABILITY DATA HERE

He said “staff availability’’ covered a range of scenarios which did not all involve bus driver absenteeism.

“Driver availability can be impacted by the late running of their previous service,’’ he said.

“School routes are prioritised and drivers can be reassigned from urban routes to run these services.

“It is worth noting that a single absent driver can result in multiple cancelled runs.’’

He said while TransLink funded maintenance and replacement of buses for operators such as councils, it was up to them to recruit drivers and to ensure their fleets were maintained and well managed.