50 Brisbane made buses support 50 cent fares

Fifty Brisbane built buses have been made available by the Queensland government to cope with increased patronage expected from its plan to offer 50 cent fares across the city.

Thirty seven of 200 Queensland made buses on order have been built and are ready to redeploy to boost capacity, while another 13 buses will be provided by Translink’s bus delivery partners.

The 200 buses are being delivered as part of an over $133 million investment by the government, 165 from Volgren and 35 from Scania with BusTech bodies.

State Premier Steven Miles the remaining buses of the 200 order would support commuters during rail track closures, including major accessibility upgrades underway at five South East Queensland train stations.

Miles said: ““No other state and territory has our homegrown manufacturing talent, or our 50 cent fares.

“The countdown is on and we’re ready to roll.”

Fifty cent fares is the cheapest public transport has been in Queensland’s modern history.

During the six-month trial starting 5 August, people will be able to travel on bus, train, ferry, tram, on demand services in South East Queensland, and all regional urban buses for 50 cents.

Patronage on the South East Queensland public transport network across all modes remains at about 87 per cent of pre-COVID levels.

Translink modelling is forecasting public transport patronage could re-aligning with pre-COVID levels during the trial.

Picture: Volgren/The first of two Optimus-bodied, Volvo BZL vehicles built locally at Eagle Farm marks the bus body manufacturer’s 50th Battery Electric Bus (BEB)