PATRICK CONNORS
Brisbane City Council’s annual report on public transport reveals lower patronage of train and bus services across the network.
According to the Brisbane City Council’s 2014-2015 annual report, 2.2 million less customers used Brisbane’s buses in 2014-15 than they did the previous year.
Earlier this month, mayoral candidate Rod Harding attacked Lord Mayor Graham Quirk over his handling of the state’s declining rates of public transport use, labelling the figures as “damning”.
“Brisbane bus patronage fell again last financial year, which is a direct outcome of the ever-increasing public transport fares” Mr. Harding said in parliament.
Cr Quirk placed the responsibility on the the state government funded service Translink, claiming they were to blame for the price and transport issues.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten stated on ABC’s Q&A program his belief that Brisbane required greater government investment in public transport infrastructure.
“I believe Brisbane should have cross river rail”, Mr Shorten said.
Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is a frequent user of public transport, made a point to reference the importance of public transport during his ministerial announcement on Sunday.
At Sth Geelong station with @SHendersonMP before going to Torquay to inspect the @NBN_Australia rollout. pic.twitter.com/PWJI7dBNAD
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) July 28, 2015
“We shouldn’t be discriminating between one form of transit and another. Roads are not better than mass transit or vice versa, each of them has their place”, Mr Turnbull said.
A review into the public transport network is currently underway, with affordability set to a key priority.
Translink declined to comment on the review.