Brisbane buses run late more often – but 50¢ fares are a hit

3 months ago 47

Thousands more people are using public transport as the state marks one year of 50¢ fares, but passenger numbers have still not cracked pre-COVID levels.

And Brisbane buses are still getting stuck in traffic, with about one in 10 not running on time, and on-time running worse at the beginning of the year than it was before the pandemic.

We can reveal that 88 per cent of Brisbane buses were on time in January to March this year, with the figure last hitting 90 per cent two years ago.

Eren Roigard is a fan of cheaper public transport fares.

Buses can run two minutes early or six minutes late and still be considered on time.

But Brisbane City Council transport chair Andrew Wines said the launch of the new bus network and the Metro on June 30 – which happened after the most up-to-date open data published by Translink – would “get more buses, to more places, more often”.

“The CBD is the biggest choke point in Brisbane’s bus network, with too many buses stuck at the Cultural Centre, Victoria Bridge and Queen Street tunnel,” he said.

“Together with Brisbane Metro and the soon-to-open inner-city tunnel, Brisbane’s new bus network will help unblock the bus bottleneck in the CBD.”

The former Miles Labor government introduced a flat 50¢ fare on August 5, 2024, initially as a six-month trial. The Crisafulli LNP government made the policy permanent from February.

On Monday, Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said 96 million trips since 50¢ fares were made permanent, saving Queenslanders almost $200 million.

Last week, this masthead asked south-east Queensland’s transport authority Translink for its most-up-to-date patronage figures, but the request was rejected.

According to its publicly available performance dashboard, more than 125 million public transport trips have been taken in the region since 50¢ fares were first introduced, saving commuters $242 million.

At a bus stop on Adelaide Street, commuter Eren Roigard said he had saved hundreds of dollars in the past year. “I think it’s great for everyone – who doesn’t want cheaper fares?” he said.

Roigard said he thought buses had become a bit busier, but he believed cheaper fares were good for Brisbane.

“I hope they stay forever,” he said.

Overall, patronage on south-east Queensland buses, trains, ferries and trams jumped by 6 million trips in the quarter when 50¢ fares were introduced, compared with the three months before.

But usage has not recovered to the pre-pandemic highs of mid-2019, when almost 51 million trips were taken on public transport in south-east Queensland in one quarter.

Comparing January to March 2025 to January to March 2019, almost 1.3 million fewer trips were taken in the first three months of this year.

Unsurprisingly, public transport users have been positively beaming about the lower fares, giving the cost of their trips an almost perfect score of 4.78 out of five this year in Translink’s customer survey.

But feelings about their experience on the last trip taken remained almost unchanged, hovering around 4.1 out of five for the past few years.

A Translink spokeswoman said 86 per cent of people they surveyed believed 50¢ fares encouraged people to choose public transport over driving.

“The strongest patronage uplifts following 50¢ fares have been seen outside peak periods and on weekends, indicating strong leisure travel, with customers saying 50¢ fares have made public transport a much more appealing transport option when heading out for dinner and drinks,” she said.

The spokeswoman said Translink was focusing on frequency, reliability and customer information, while Cross River Rail, faster rail, and the Sunshine Coast’s The Wave rail line from Beerwah to Birtinya would improve services.

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