Brisbane Metro has delivered more than 6.8 million trips in its first year, helping drive a 27% increase in bus patronage over two years.
Brisbane City Council says the start of permanent Brisbane Metro services marked the biggest evolution of the city’s bus network in decades, boosting capacity by more than 30 million seats each year.
Before the permanent service began, 50c fares drove a 16% increase in bus patronage, lifting trips from 32.7 million to more than 38 million over the equivalent August to January period.
One year later, the launch of permanent Brisbane Metro services alongside Brisbane’s New Bus Network delivered an almost 10% increase, with more than 41.5 million trips recorded.
“It’s been just one year since we introduced our first permanent Brisbane Metro service and it’s already changed how our city moves,” said Lord Mayor, Adrian Schrinner.
“Metro bus rapid transit is the leap our city needed to move from traditional public transport to mass transit so we can keep Brisbane moving as we grow.
“In a fast-growing city, people need transport they can rely on and Metro is stepping up, day in and day out.
“Brisbane Metro has been a huge success in its first 12 months, making it easier for people to leave their cars at home, ease congestion and helping them get home sooner and safer for just 50 cents.
“More than six million trips in a year demonstrates how Brisbane residents are embracing this new way of moving around our city and this is only the beginning.”
Lord Mayor Schrinner says the new Adelaide Street Tunnel, delivered as part of the Brisbane Metro project, has also been critical in breaking the bus bottleneck in the CBD with around 1,400 bus and metro services now travelling underground each weekday.
Since permanent services launched on 28 January last year, on-time travel has improved by more than 5% on the M1 route between Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street and more than 3% on the M2 route between UQ and the RBWH.
Each vehicle is 24.4 metres long, can carry up to 170 passengers and will be named after something unique to Brisbane.
The first vehicle was named after NRL legend Darren Lockyer, with three additional vehicles since named after local legends, Sister Angela Mary Doyle, Brisbane Lions and The Ten Tenors.
The fleet of fully-electric metros is housed at Australia’s largest electric bus depot in Rochedale, which features 60 slow charges, five fast chargers and onsite maintenance and staff facilities.
The more than 2,300 solar panels at the depot provide enough clean energy to power 280 homes every year, helping to take the equivalent of 50 cars off the road in reduced carbon emissions.
M1 and M2 metro services are just the first stage of Brisbane Metro, laying the foundations for better public transport right across Queensland.
The expansion of Brisbane Metro is a long-term program that will be delivered in stages as planning is completed and funding is secured, the Council says.
Planning on future Brisbane Metro extensions has been underway for more than a year, including route investigations, depot planning and engagement with industry and other levels of government.
The State’s Brisbane 2032 delivery plan already recognises future northern and eastern Brisbane Metro corridors as part of the city’s long-term transport network.
The formal business case process is continuing and will help inform future decisions under the State’s Olympic Transport Plan, providing options based on demand and confirmed venue locations.
Some expansion options may progress sooner, such as the Springwood extension, while others will support Brisbane’s growth well beyond the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said Lord Mayor Schrinner.
“We’ll continue working constructively with all levels of government to advance the next stages of Brisbane Metro and deliver a public transport network that serves Brisbane for decades to come,” he said.
