Toowoomba council to unveil public transport options in June, following visit from Qld minister Brent Mickelberg

Toowoomba mayor Geoff McDonald has again defended the council’s controversial $3m public transport levy, with options to expand the city’s network set to be handed down within weeks.

Toowoomba residents will soon know what the council plans to put its controversial public transport levy funding towards, after the state government renewed its pledge to expand the city’s “deficient” bus network.

Mayor Geoff McDonald has revealed councillors will receive a report in June from officers on options for future upgrades of the region’s public transport system, following extensive conversations between the TRC and the new Crisafulli government.

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg and Toowoomba mayor Geoff McDonald.

The news comes nearly 12 months after the council added a new public transport levy, worth about $40 per year, in its 2024/25 budget to replace a previous tax — much to the confusion of many residents.

Public transport use in Toowoomba has historically been very low, with the 2021 census revealing less than one per cent of residents used a bus to get to work.

Those figures will have increased in time, particularly since the introduction of 50c fares by the previous Labor government that have been kept by the LNP.

Mr McDonald said the new fund, which will grow to a maximum of $3 million, had attracted interest from the state to invest further in the city, as demonstrated by an appearance by transport minister Brent Mickelberg in Toowoomba on Wednesday.

“There is no doubt, and you’ve heard from the minister, that our region has been deficient in many regards from investment by the state government into public transport,” he said.

“One thing that was missing to get us to the table was funding from our community, and so therefore, the $40 per year in funding (in rates notices) to public transport has got us to the table.

“We’re now at the table, so much so that our operational team is working closely with the department at a time that we really need it.

A TransLink Bus Queensland bus is driven on a Toowoomba CBD street, Saturday, April 1, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“We haven’t seen this collaboration before and now with the minister here today, we can demonstrate quite clearly to our community that that decision was the right decision.

“One of the most interesting pieces of feedback that councillors have heard since our decision was ‘I can’t understand why we’re paying this, we don’t even have public transport’, and that is music to our ears, because that’s the exact reason.”

Mr McDonald said the report would examine all forms of public transport, opening the door to some form of intracity rail system in the future.

However, he stressed the upgrades would likely focus around the existing bus network.

Queensland transport minister Brent Mickelberg with Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts outside a Bus Queensland bus on Kitchener Street in East Toowoomba.

“At the moment we don’t have too many light rails running through Toowoomba and across the region that can take passengers, so therefore, as it should be, clearly at the moment it’s around bus travel,” Mr McDonald said.

“There is no doubt that as our community grows, we need to look at other avenues for transporting people and goods for that matter, in and around our region, and the growth that’s predicted will necessitate that.

“We’re in a pretty unique position that we do have an existing rail corridor with rail in it (so) it’s important for us to have that conversation with the state to preserve that corridor so that we can grow that opportunity into the future.”

Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts said he wanted Highfields to be a major beneficiary of any planned slate of upgrades.

“In the short and medium term, we should focus on the bus transport network, making sure we have both the infrastructure and the service and the frequency so that people start to go, ‘you know what, it is too hard for me to take the car out of town, I’ll catch the bus’,” he said.

No progress on passenger after ‘pretty light’ $15m business case

Queensland transport minister Brent Mickelberg outside a Bus Queensland bus on Kitchener Street in East Toowoomba.

The new LNP does not appear to be re-examining passenger rail from Toowoomba to Brisbane for now, despite slamming the delivery of a $15m business case by the previous Labor government prior to October’s election.

The findings of the business case, which took five years to finish after federal funding was secured in 2019 by then-Groom MP John McVeigh, were released by the Miles government on September 30 with little fanfare.

The 11-page summary report argued any form of passenger rail would likely take longer than a car or a bus, relied on the construction of the bloated Inland Rail, and had a “low benefit-to-cost ratio” for taxpayers.

“The next stage of planning, which may include preparing a detailed business case, will be undertaken closer to the time of Inland Rail delivery in Queensland,” the website said.

Both Toowoomba state MPs, Trevor Watts and now-treasurer David Janetzki, slammed the release of the report at the time.

Despite calling Labor’s report “light on detail”, transport minister Brent Mickelberg denied the Crisafulli government was re-examining the findings or actioning any part of the initiative in the short term.

A map of the proposed Toowoomba passenger rail line.

“It was shuffled out at the last minute, pretty light on detail I’d have to say, pretty light on any further actions moving forward,” he said.

“Rather than on commencing business cases and announcements around business cases, our focus is on delivering better services and there is most certainly in the future a role for better services and better rail linkages between Toowoomba and Brisbane, and the Inland Rail will be a part of that solution.

“What we need to do is we need to focus on the here and now, delivering better services for residents in Toowoomba and then working collaboratively with all levels of government and the community to plan for the future and to deliver investments which will benefit all Queenslanders, and that’s the commitment.”