Locals in Bardon and parts of Paddington don’t have an easy way to catch the bus to Toowong, St Lucia or the train line, even though they live very close. Connections to the city are also relatively slow and infrequent, especially outside peak hour. That means many locals choose to drive, and peak hour traffic is terrible.
Our campaign so far
In late 2019, residents started a campaign for better buses, and I supported them by creating this petition to the State Transport Minister.
I also wrote to the Minister requesting that the government improve buses in Bardon on 17 December 2019.
The Minister responded on 9 March 2020 claiming that low patronage between Bardon and Toowong demonstrated that “service improvements” were not needed, but in 2021 The Department of Transport and Main Roads released the final South East Queensland Regional Transport Plan, which included a commitment to create a high-frequency bus route between Bardon and Toowong by 2041, along with other public transport upgrades.[1] Later in 2021, the State government brought forward their plans to 2031.[2]
Now our job is to make sure they deliver it, and sooner than 2031.
Our plan for better buses
The key improvements we are pushing for are:
A new high frequency bus between Bardon and Toowong
We want to create a new high-frequency bus between Bardon, Paddington and Toowong by extending the 375 to commence and terminate at Toowong train station. Currently the 375 terminates at Carwoola Street, Bardon. The extension could run via Sir Samuel Griffiths Drive and the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens.
Make the 375, 475 and Great Circle Line “turn up and go”
We want to make getting to the city, northern suburbs and getting around the west side by bus much easier than driving. That means creating a real “turn up and go” service, with buses at least once every 10 minutes all day, every day including evenings and weekends.
Right now the 375 and 475 buses run just once per hour in the evening. The 598/599 Great Circle Line is also slow and unreliable.
Connect the 475 with the 375
We want to make sure these two routes connect up together, instead of missing each other. This would mean residents in Rosalie along Rainworth and Boundary Rd could easily link up with the new Toowong bus.The 475 route should be extended to terminate at Carwoola St rather than Leworthy St, just a 2 minute drive away.
[1] The full version of the SEQ Regional Transport Plan is here (PDF). See page 53 and 54 for a map of the Future Public Transport Network, 2041. A list of all Regional Transport Plans is here.
[2] The State government brought forward their commitment to upgrade the bus network to 2031 in the Translink Creating Better Connections report (see page 29)