Brisbane named worst capital city for public transport

Brisbane has the worst public transport access of Australia’s mainland state capitals, with two out of every three residents not having adequate access, a damning new report has revealed.

Brisbane has the worst public transport access of Australia’s mainland state capitals a damning new report has revealed.

And two out of every three residents don’t have access to frequent public transport according to analysis by the Climate Council.

It means just 33.7 per cent of people living in Brisbane are able to get a bus or train every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm.

It’s a result that’s worse than Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.

The damning study found good public transport options ended for most residents 8km outside the CBD — equating to suburbs like Salisbury in the south, Stafford Heights in the north and The Gap in the west.

In a cost-of-living failure it is Brisbane’s low-income households which are much worse off when it comes to public transport, with the Climate Council calling for government to prioritise services in the most disadvantaged suburbs.

Brisbane has the worst public transport out of all the mainland capital cities.

That includes suburbs like Marsden, Eagleby, and Inala — all within three separate safe Labor electorates.

The Climate Council report comes exactly four weeks before the state government’s six month 50c public service fares trial begins on August 5.

While it’s hoped the trial will help get public transport patronage back up to pre-pandemic levels, it was recently revealed public transport use in the southeast was lower now than it was more than a decade ago, despite a population boom.

The report warned while governments were investing in new and expanded transport options those projects — including Cross River Rail — were mostly “huge” and “capital intensive”.

Climate Council policy and advocacy head Dr Jennifer Rayner said big ticket projects like Cross River Rail were important but sometimes “simple investments like better buses and bike paths in the suburbs” could make the biggest difference.

“At the moment, only one in five people in Brisbane use shared and active transport to get to work. That’s because too many communities are being left in the lurch and unable to access services that meet their needs,” she said.

Two out of three residents don’t have access to public transport.

“To get us out of our expensive, polluting cars, governments need to centre shared and active transport in all transport and land use planning.

“This includes new investments that enable the uptake of shared and active transport, like better-connected footpaths and walkways, and improving the quality and frequency of public transport services. Smart urban planning will also deliver more housing near existing transport routes.”

The Brisbane suburbs with the worst public service accessibility according to the Climate Council are Browns Plains, Beenleigh, and those in the “Hills District” like Ferny Hills, Arana Hills and Everton Hills.

The best accessibility, aside from the inner suburbs, are Annerley, Yeronga and Indooroopilly.

Premier Steven Miles, ahead of June’s state budget, announced bus, trains and ferry fares would be slashed to 50c for six months in a bid to ease living costs and investigate if the lower fees would entice people onto public transport.

TransLink data shows there would need to be 450,000 more trips a week on average in the southeast — the equivalent of 8.5 full capacity Suncorp Stadium crowds — in order to get patronage back to 2019 levels.

Originally published as Brisbane named worst capital city for public transport