Have 50¢ fares been enough to change the WFH trend on Fridays?

Brisbane buses are not suffering from excessive overcrowding, despite more people using public transport since the introduction of 50¢ fares.

And while the lure of working from home continues to put a dent in patronage, the bus to the University of Queensland and a late-night service from the nightclub district are among the most in-demand routes.

Exclusive figures provided to Brisbane Times have revealed the proportion of south-east Queensland routes that Translink-contracted urban bus services travelled while full during peak hours in October.

New figures reveal south-east Queensland buses are no more crowded than they were last year, despite the introduction of 50¢ fares.Credit: Courtney Kruk

In the morning weekday peak, only 0.06 per cent of the kilometres travelled by buses were at full capacity (seats occupied and people standing in the aisle). In the evening, that figure was 0.02 per cent.

And the October 2024 percentage was slightly lower in the morning and evening peaks than a year earlier.

Last month, buses were the most packed at 2.30pm, when 0.465 per cent of kilometres travelled were at standing capacity.

The former Miles Labor government introduced a flat 50¢ fare on August 5 under a trial, which was made permanent and also adopted by the new Crisafulli LNP government.

Brisbane City Council had earlier warned the city’s bus system might not be able to cope with 50¢ fares, and that commuters could face long waits.

This masthead has previously revealed patronage jumped in August 2024, but bus and train trips were still lower than they were in August 2018 and 2019, despite population growth and a cost-of-living crisis.

Cheaper trips have not been enough to drive a surge in public transport use on Fridays and Mondays – days many people choose to work from home – with buses more crowded midweek.

The most packed urban bus route last month was the TX7 on the Gold Coast, which stops at Wet ‘n’ Wild, Movie World and Dreamworld, with 0.33 per cent of kilometres travelled at standing capacity.

The 412, which travels between UQ St Lucia and the city, was also towards the top of the list, with thousands of university students taking advantage of cheaper fares.

The late-night weekend N339 from Fortitude Valley and the city to the northside was at number four in September as revellers chose to get home with public transport instead of a taxi or Uber.

This is also reflected in data that shows the time of days buses were full – in September there were spikes in full buses in the hours after midnight.

In September, the 169 was one of Brisbane’s most crowded bus services, and on October 21, became the route for the city’s first Metro extra-long bus service, before the Metro came to a quiet stop one month later, and the 169 route was again serviced by regular buses.

According to the council’s original modelling, a 10 per cent increase in passengers each weekday would mean more than 12,000 passengers would not fit on buses on more than half of Brisbane’s routes.

As a result, the government then announced 50 buses would be added to south-east Queensland’s fleet to tackle overcrowding.

With little evidence of overcrowding, Brisbane Times asked Translink whether it had run more bus services since 50¢ fares were introduced.

A Translink spokesman said there was a 3.1 per cent increase in the number of south-east Queensland bus services from October 2023 to October 2024, which had risen to 118,671 services a week.

“We also know that greater flexibility, in particular working from home, and flexible office hours has led to people travelling at different times of the day, which has spread peak demand levels resulting in increased passenger numbers from 50¢ fares not resulting in more full buses,” he said.

“Translink continues to work with Brisbane City Council regarding the implementation of Brisbane Metro services, which will also provide increased capacity on the Brisbane bus network.”

The former Labor government introduced 50¢ fares to provide cost-of-living relief, but it abandoned a trial intended to examine the impact on public transport patronage and road traffic.

The then-government and its now-disbanded Public Transport Fares Advisory Panel had previously discussed how “patronage is historically more responsive to improved service quality than reduced fares”.

“Improvements to fares and incentives when coupled with more frequent, reliable and accessible public transport will drive real customer behaviour change,” state documents obtained under the Right to Information Act said.

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