Greens' Light rail proposal the best for Brisbane

Labor and Liberal have still failed to produce a transport plan to rival the Greens' comprehensive light rail proposal for Brisbane. Lord Mayoral Candidate Jo Bragg released the Greens' light rail plan late last year and the Greens are still the only party to have shown real vision for Brisbane. Labor and Liberal remain locked in useless tunnel vision.

The Greens' proposal, which will service suburbs in the west, north-west, north, south-east and south of Brisbane is far more cost-effective than the TransApex road proposal and is the only plan that addresses the short and long term transport issues facing Brisbane.

Download lr_network_a4.pdf

 

Labor and Liberal have no plans to significantly increase the percentage of people using public transport and will be working to keep Brisbane's roads congested so that tunnel operators are guaranteed an income. The Liberal Lord Mayor's "Mass Transit Plan" was really a mini-transit plan for a few new bus services in the inner-city, and ignored the suburbs.

The Greens are the only major party in the Brisbane City Council election who are serious about making public transport a better alternative to the car, while Labor and Liberal remove transit lanes and continue to underfund public transport. Light rail is fast, attractive, easy to use, has greater carrying capacity than buses and costs far less per km than car tunnels or busway tunnels. It has worked successfully in many cities around the world, including low-density cities such as Portland, Oregon. Each station would be serviced by feeder buses and high quality walking and cycling paths.

Preliminary costings estimate it to be less than $4 billion for more than 100km of track, which is offers much greater value for money than Labor and Liberal's road tunnels, the first of which will cost more than $3 billion for 5km.

Download a detailed plan here Download lr_network_a4.pdf

Comments

[Jarrod Schindler]

Hi Greens,

I try so hard to agree with Greens policy. Good idea on the light-rail but good luck trying to build a light-rail through the University of Queensland, that just will not happen. I don't think they'll be too happy having their green space used as a public transport corridor. Did you not pick up on the hesitations they had just to allow a dead-end at the Eleanor Schonell Bridge?

Also, can the light rail make it up Carmody Road? It was pretty steep the last time I tried to ride my bike up it. As for Swann Street, I think you mean Swann Road.

[Craig]

Hi Greens,

I am working on a project in San Diego, California to extend our light-rail system 11 miles with a cost estimate of $1.2 Billion. This number includes only 7 stations, which is relatively low for the mileage covered. It seems your figures are in line with ours here, although our land use densities are much higher.

Best of luck,
Cheers