South East Busway’s 15th birthday

Today marks the 15th birthday of one of the world’s finest busways, The South East Busway from to Eight Mile Plains.

State Member for Greenslopes Joe Kelly said the opening of the South East Busway was the beginning of a busway network that had become an example of best practice for public transport around the world

“Delivering more than 18,000 customers every hour to their destinations in peak periods, the 17km South East busway from Woolloongabba to Eight Mile Plains is a very popular and efficient transport choice for thousands of customers every day,” Mr Kelly said.

“By comparison, buses travelling in general traffic can only carry up to 1,600 passengers an hour.

“Today, there are now more than 29 kilometres of busway which includes 27 stations and 20 tunnels. More than 72 million trips are made on our busways each year.

“The 17 kilometre busway runs adjacent to the South East Freeway and comprises environmentally designed busway stations and a busway operations centre that employs modern technology.

“The busway stations have been developed at key suburban nodes to serve major activity centres. This allows buses to serve low-density communities, collect passengers from local roads and then join the busway for a faster trip into the city.

“Owned, operated and maintained by the Department of Transport and Main Roads, the South East Busway infrastructure is an impressive operation.

“More than 750 CCTV cameras monitor infrastructure, tunnels and assets 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“The busways feature real time safety and security incident management and linear heat detectors in the tunnels can trigger water deluge system to extinguish fires.

“Environmental measures include solar panels for power generation and rain water reticulation systems for cleaning at some of the stations.

“Busways collaborate with the Brisbane Transport Network Coordination Centre, other Department of Transport staff, Brisbane City Council, the Police Service and emergency services to ensure the safety of the busway network.

“Busways continue to be a great success story for public transport. They separate buses from general traffic and make our buses faster and more reliable and efficient.

“Every full bus takes around 40 cars off our roads and one bus, travelling on the busway is equal to 50 per cent less emissions than a bus in standard traffic.”

The South East Busway was (to Eight Mile Plains) was officially opened on 27 April, 2001 ahead of a weekend of busway fun days, before opening to bus traffic on Monday 30 April.

For more information about Brisbane’s busway network visit www..com.au or call TransLink on 13 12 30 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

ENDS

Media Contact: Fran Bell Greenslopes Electorate Office 3414 2100