Transport for Brisbane
Transport for Brisbane is an organisational division of the Brisbane City Council, responsible through its related Council Committee for providing policy and advice to Brisbane City Council, and for delivering various public transport services across the City of Brisbane. The division does this as part of an agreement with TransLink, an agency of the Department of Transport and Main Roads that operates public transport across South East Queensland.
History
The origins of Transport for Brisbane can be traced to August 1885 where the Metropolitan Tramways & Investment Company established a service in Brisbane under franchise from the Queensland Government with 18 horse trams. The tram system remained in private hands until January 1923 when the Queensland government established the Brisbane Tramways Trust, compulsorily acquiring the tram network and supporting infrastructure, then in 1925 creating the Brisbane City Council and transferring responsibility for the tram network to the council. Before the council withdrew support in 1961, the council supported the tram network by expanding it to a peak of with over 400 trams.Bus services commenced in 1925 by the Brisbane City Council. Brisbane City Council shut down bus services due to financial loss in November 1927. Bus services recommenced 13 years later, in July 1940 with 12 Albion Valkyries. In 1948 the Brisbane City Council acquired 20 operators with 67 buses.
The first Rocket services began on the morning of 18 April 1977 between Garden City and the Brisbane CBD. These services were based on the idea that bus travel time could be reduced to less than the travel time by car by the removal of most embarkation stops.
In the 1990s, Brisbane City Council corporatised its transport services to form Brisbane Transport, a council-owned commercial businesses managed at arm's length from the council and providing consultancy services back to it.
Infrastructure
Brisbane Transport operates services along dedicated busway infrastructure to avoid peak hour traffic congestion on roads closest to the Brisbane CBD.Services
Bus upgrade zone
s are high-frequency bus routes mostly running direct to the Cultural Centre. All BUZ services run at least every fifteen minutes from around 06:00 to 23:00 seven days a week and at least every ten minutes during peak hours from Monday to Friday.CityGlider
CityGlider is a high frequency pre-paid bus service around the Brisbane CBD, operating every five minutes during peak and every 10 to 15 minutes during off-peak. This is the first service in Brisbane to operate 24 hours on Friday and Saturday and 18 hours every other day. Bus stops serviced by the CityGlider are identified with signs and painted kerb.Clem7
Clem7 is a bus route using the Clem Jones Tunnel which links the suburbs of Eight Mile Plains and Chermside, the route runs every 15 minutes at peak times and 30 minutes at off-peak, Monday to Friday.The route commenced on 22 March 2010 at a cost of $1.6 million per annum. The route has decreased the journey time between Eight Mile Plains and Chermside, removing the need to transfer buses at Cultural Centre. The route completes the cross-city journey in 39 minutes instead of up to 55 minutes via the Brisbane CBD.
Fleet
As at February 2018, the fleet consisted of 1,240 buses.Two-axle buses
390 of the total fleet are MAN 18.310s, delivered from 2005 to 2010, 324 with CNG engines and 66 powered by diesel. The rest of the regular rigid fleet consists of 553 diesel-powered Volvo B7RLEs, approx 100 Volvo B8RLEs and smaller numbers of older CNG-powered Scania L94UBs and one Volvo B5RLEH Hybrid demonstrator bus, all low-floor, accessible and air-conditioned.Three-axle buses
BT operates two models of three-axle "tag" buses, 8 Scania K310UB and 149 Volvo B12BLE, both diesel-powered and delivered from 2009 on. These larger buses are used on high-demand trunk routes, mostly on the South East Busway.Articulated buses
Articulated buses currently used by Brisbane Transport are 30 CNG-powered MAN NG313s, delivered from 2007 to 2008 and over 20 diesel-powered Volvo B8RLEAs, delivered from 2018 on.Historic
Until the mid-1970s, heavy-duty AEC and Leyland buses were purchased. Later purchases were from European suppliers, Volvo B59s being purchased from 1976, MAN SL200s in 1982 and Volvo B10Ms from 1987.Depots
Brisbane Transport operates its services from seven depots for specified areas. Some of these depots service routes shared in overlapping areas with other depots. Generally, each of Brisbane Transport's buses is allocated to a particular depot, displays a letter prefix for that depot before its fleet number, and hence is assigned to specific routes.| Depot | Letter Code | Location | Opened | Services / Comments | |
| Carina | C | 1969 | All eastern routes and some south-eastern routes from Garden City to Wynnum and Bulimba, Maroon CityGlider 61. | ||
| Eagle Farm | E | 2013 | Some northern routes; all routes between New Farm and West End, Free Loops 40 and 50, Blue CityGlider 60, QUT Shuttle 391. | ||
| Garden City | G | 1994 | South-eastern routes from Browns Plains and Sunnybank to Wishart and Coorparoo. This depot is also the location of Brisbane Transport's head office. | ||
| Sherwood | S | 2012 | Western, south-western and north-western routes. | ||
| Toowong | T | 1967 | South-western and north-western routes from Brookside and The Gap to Inala and Forest Lake, Free Loop route 30. | ||
| Virginia | V | 1998 | Most northern routes from Nudgee Beach and Brighton to Brookside and the Gap. | ||
| Willawong | W | 2009 | Primarily southern routes, some shared with other southern depots. |