It is quite bizarre that you can get a TransLink ticket from Nambour to the city, but not from Karana Downs.
Just in case it’s not obvious how bizarre this is, here is a map showing how far Nambour out is:
View Larger Map
And here’s a map to the same scale showing how far out Karana Downs is:
View Larger Map
The city and state governments have seriously dropped the ball on this one.
The Greens plan for Karana Downs is to extend the city Buz network to the area, with connection to the existing 444 service that currently goes out towards Moggill. In the longer term, once light rail is in place, we will provide a feeder service to light rail.
Karana Downs may be a relatively recent addition to Brisbane, but the public transport network is ultimately a state responsibililty and includes many cities and towns that are not part of Brisbane. How hard can it be to get this right?
Another critical area of need in Karana Downs is a High School, which has long been talked about, but nothing has happened. A high school will relieve considerable pressure on the roads as well as building the local community.
I’ve finally gotten around to doing your Green Up Moggill survey, and wanted to submit some of my ideas, having grown up here for twenty years.
Putting a school in Bellbowrie specifically is a great idea. That suburb already is home to the only skate park west of Paddington, and it has a very nice community feel. Putting more services for young people out there would make it accessible to people in Kenmore as well as further west. As for school busses, putting a school in Bellbowrie would also vastly reduce the need for a lot of traffic passing through Kenmore/Chapel Hill. More than a few people I went to school with in Indooroopilly made the trip from Karana Downs or Moggill every day, because there was no local alternative! Furthermore, considering how the Pullenvale Ward office is chartering Southern Cross to run a bus out from Karana Downs/Mt. Crosby/Karalee to Indooroopilly, having a local school would mean the charter could simply be a loop to/from the school. Even if it was simply one of the specialist Queensland Academies, I still see enormous social benefits.
Bellbowrie is of course on the 444 bus route. Regarding the light rail plan, for this area I envision that we could use it to replace some of the bus routes. For example, the plan proposes the U.Q. Line to go from Kenmore South through Indooroopilly, connecting to the train station, then through to St. Lucia. This is basically the same route taken by the 432 bus. Having the line go to Indooroopilly train station would be of significant benefit, since the U.Q.’s Ipswich campus itself is very accessible by train, and together with integrated ticketing, would make it a lot easier for students to get to classes at the different campii. The Western Line is also proposed to connect with Milton, Indooroopilly and Taringa train stations, then through Kenmore to Moggill. Again, this is basically the same as the 444 currently, and its predecessor, the 440.
Another alternative would be to fund an expansion of the ferry network to Kenmore and perhaps further. If I had the option of walking a little further to get a relaxing, comfortable ride along the river, instead of sitting in traffic on an old bus, I fully would!
Hope these thoughts have been some use.
- Gordon.
Posted on March 19th, 2009 at 9:39 am
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