And You Thought Busways Were Cheap – Not in Brisbane Australia
Wow, who said that Bus Rapid Transit is cheap? The cost of Brisbane’s new one kilometreAi??busway is almost the cost of the 98 km. Rail for the Valley/Leewood diesel TramTrain line from Scott Road Station to Chilliwack!
The moral of this story is, when TransLink and politicans promise BRT, do they really know what it costs? SomehowAi??I doubt it!
Brisbane’s busway – the land take needed for BRT is about four time
of than needed for LRT.Ai??
Brisbane’s Eastern Busway set to open after two years of construction
ONE of the most expensive strips of road in the state finally opens on Monday after almost two years of construction, but cars will never drive on it.
The second stage of the bus-only corridor, the Eastern Busway, is little more than a kilometre long and cost $465 (CAD $471.3) million to build – or $442,000 (CAD $448,000) for every metre.
It links Buranda to Coorparoo via two tunnels and sports two new bus stations at Stones Corner and Langlands Park, along with pedestrian and cyclist facilities, but has been criticised over the lack of car parks for commuters.
A community open day today will give commuters a chance to walk the 1.05km length of the completed busway, which has been under construction since August 2009.
“The completion of this busway is extremely significant to the people of Brisbane and I know there will be plenty of people keen to see it up close today,” Premier Anna Bligh said.
Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said the new section of busway would “vastly improve connection services to and from the eastern suburbs”.
But local councillor Ian McKenzie said the lack of park ‘n’ ride facilities at the stations would create a parking nightmare for residents.
“It is the responsibility of the State Government to find public parking for people who want to use the busway,” Cr McKenzie said.
“I have terrible problems around the Holland Park West busway and the Greenslopes busway with commuters having nowhere to park.”
He also raised concerns about the impact on traffic of the busway on Old Cleveland Rd, Coorparoo.
“The busway will spit buses on to the already congested Old Cleveland Rd, adding another traffic light change to the intersection with Main Ave at Coorparoo,” Cr McKenzie said. “There’ll be more banking up of cars in the afternoon with two schools nearby.”
Opposition Transport spokesman Scott Emerson said the LNP was concerned about the affordability of public transport.
“Commuters already believe public transport has become less affordable since the 15 per cent fare hikes in January, and a lot of people do not realise there are more fare increases planned,” he said.
