We've closed our community poll regarding whether to relocate one of the Blue Cityglider stops on Montague Rd, so that the service stops near Raven St and the Montague Markets precinct, rather than further south near Cordeaux St and Forbes St. The original wording of the poll question is at the bottom of this post.

As of the beginning of March 2023, the results were:

68 votes (20%) - "Make no changes – keep the Blue Cityglider stops at Cordeaux Street"

273 votes (80%) - "Relocate the Blue Cityglider stops from Cordeaux St to Raven St near Montague Markets"

I've just sent the following letter to Councillor Ryan Murphy, Chair of the Transport Committee, advising that given a binary choice, the community supports relocating the stop, but that we would ideally prefer the glider to stop at both locations. The letter explains a bit more about how the poll was promoted etc. I understand that the council will now initiate the process to establish the new glider stop, which could take several months, as it also needs sign-off from the State Government. We are also still continuing to advocate for improvements to the 192 service so that it runs more frequently, and its operating hours are extended so it runs on weeknights and weekends.

Letter to Councillor Murphy:

Dear Councillor Murphy,

I write to confirm my request that the Blue Cityglider service should be changed to stop at Montague Rd near Raven St (Stop 12).

I have already passed this information to your transport network planners directly, but for your information, the community poll we conducted showed 80% support for relocation. http://jonathansri.com/citygliderpoll

In total, 342 residents cast a vote in the poll, with 68 residents choosing ‘Make no change – keep the Blue Cityglider stops at Cordeaux St’ and 274 residents choosing ‘Relocate the Blue Cityglider stops from Cordeaux St to Raven St near the Montague Markets.’ Notably, there was a lot of feedback from residents – both via comments on the poll and direct contact with our office – emphasising that they didn’t think they should be forced to choose between one option or the other, and that they supported the glider stopping at both locations even if this did add slightly to the overall journey times.

The poll was promoted via a printed newsletter to every household in the Gabba Ward, by email newsletter to approximately 9000 recipients, by multiple social media posts on Twitter and Facebook (including directly to local community groups) and via posters at each bus stop along Montague Rd south of the Aldi shopping centre (including those bus stops where the glider doesn’t currently stop). The poll was open for well over 3 months.

I have passed on the data regarding the suburbs of poll participants to your transport network planners (with no other identifying information) which shows that the vast majority of participants were West End residents, with ‘South Brisbane’ the next most common suburbs among respondents.

I remain of the view that the Blue CityGlider should ideally be stopping at both the Cordeaux St and Raven St stops, and this is the ultimate outcome that the Greens will continue to advocate for. For now, we understand that your administration is insisting on choosing between one stop or the other, and if forced to choose, my community’s clear preference is for the Glider to stop at Raven St near the Montague Markets.

However, we feel that when you consider

• the high population densities around Forbes St
• the fact that the Cordeaux St stop is the closest and most convenient stop for community facilities such as the South Brisbane Sailing Club and the larger Orleigh Park playground/picnic area
• the proposal for a new footbridge connecting to Toowong to land in the vicinity of Forbes St

there is a very strong case for maintaining high-frequency Blue CityGlider stops at both locations, particularly if the State Government still isn’t committing to extending the 192 service to operate on weekends and weeknights.

We believe that any marginal increase to cityglider travel times arising from adding an extra stop to the route is more than justified by the advantages of providing high frequency bus services in close proximity to as many residents and businesses as possible.

I ask that you initiate the process of establishing a Blue Cityglider stop at Montague Markets/near Raven St, but that you remain open to the suggestion of also keeping a glider stop operational at Cordeaux St into the future.

Warm regards,

Jonno

Jonathan Sriranganathan

Councillor for the Gabba Ward

Brisbane City Council

(Pronouns: He/They)

P: 3403 2165 | A: 2/63 Annerley Road, Woolloongabba

W: jonathansri.com | E: [email protected]

Original wording of poll

Brisbane City Council is currently running a consultation regarding major changes to some parts of the bus network (mostly related to the new Metro vehicles replacing traditional buses along the South-East busway). Under this network redesign, no changes at all are proposed to the Blue Cityglider service, and so far, the only proposed changes to the 192 service involve extending it further south to Yeronga.

Separately, the council has also received a petition to add an additional Blue Cityglider stop on Montague Rd outside Montague Markets (the Woolworths) and Queensland Ballet.

But BCC and the State Government are both firmly resistant to adding another Cityglider stop, because they say that the more stops they add, the slower a service becomes.

So while I will continue to advocate for improvements to the 192, I am concerned that there are still no weekend bus services stopping near the major destination of Montague Markets.

Given the narrow limits imposed by the administration, we are asking the community to choose whether you would prefer the Blue Cityglider to stop at Montague Markets at ‘Raven St – Stop 12,’ rather than at ‘Cordeaux St – Stop 14.’

If the Blue Cityglider stop is moved, only the 192 service would stop at the Cordeaux St bus stops.

I’m frustrated at the limited scope of this decision, as there are lots of other changes we need to our bus network, but these are the constraints the political establishment is imposing upon us. If you have other feedback, I’m happy to receive it via email at [email protected] or you can post a comment below (remember you can also sign up for local updates via www.jonathansri.com/updates to hear more about what’s happening in our area).

Option 1: Make no changes – keep the Blue Cityglider stops at Cordeaux Street

Option 2: Relocate the Blue Cityglider stops from Cordeaux St to Raven St near Montague Markets