Two separate advocacy groups have put forward differing options for how to improve public transport in one of Brisbane’s most densely populated suburbs after the controversial removal of the 27 bus route from Kangaroo Point in 2024.
Jane Layton, chair of the grassroots local Kangaroo Point Transport Action Group (KPTAG), believes the suburb is underserviced by public transport.
“We’re getting a really raw deal. Everyone else has a couple of different options for how to get places, and we get nothing that in any way is really viable public transport,” Ms Layton said.
“For the amount of money that it cost to build the pedestrian bridge, we… could have doubled the ferry fleet and put in an… on demand bus.”
She would like to see either the 27 bus to the CBD return, or an increased frequency and extended hours for the 234 bus route, which currently runs from Woolloongabba to the CBD, as well as the return of a CityCat instead of the smaller cross river ferry service.
Meanwhile, statewide advocacy group Better Transport Queensland (BTQ) is taking a broader utilitarian approach, suggesting an extension of the 29 bus route from the University of Queensland to the Royal Brisbane Hospital with more frequent services, which would eliminate the 234 bus.
BTQ President Rowan Gray said: “Unfortunately, the 234 in its current form is unlikely to see a frequency increase due to the small catchment and the duplicative service it provides.”
“We see the proposed extension of the 29 as a beneficial trade-off to make in order to see increased frequency to Kangaroo Point.”
He said routes designed to serve only a single destination rarely generate the demand needed to support frequent service, and the better option is to concentrate more passengers onto fewer, higher-demand routes (“trunk routes”) like the 29 bus.
Mr Gray said higher frequency trunk routes create reduced wait times and reliable transfers to other services.
For Kangaroo Point residents travelling to the CBD, this would mean boarding the 29 bus and transferring to one of many buses to the city at Woolloongabba or Fortitude Valley.
However, Ms Layton is advocating for a direct, practical route for the locals, many of whom are retirees or elderly.
“Having a stop at Fortitude Valley is really adding… an extra degree of difficulty for people having to get on and off the bus and change either to a different mode of transport or wait for a different bus.”
Ultimately, both groups have the same goal in mind: better transport.
Ms Layton hopes they can have a conversation about the best way to improve Kangaroo Point’s public transport.
“We can work together and be better for it,” she said.
