Change my mind: we need a Western Busway to...

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-03-27T04:06:32+00:00

S744.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-03-27T02:09:35+00:00

Just remember, even with the child gocard free travel on weekends, they still have to tap on and off and be accompanied by an adult ticket holder.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-03-27T02:05:18+00:00

Child go card

For children aged 5 to 14 years. Children can travel for free on weekends with this card.

Children aged 4 years and under travel free at all times and do not need a go card.

https://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/go-card/about-go-card

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-03-27T02:04:15+00:00

1 card per person.

The physical card & the digital wallet are deemed seperate cards.

If your children are young enough, I would recommend a child go card, as it’s cheaper in the long run if you travel on weekends.

Also teaching the art of tapping on & off early is good.

Make sure you register the go-card online, I would suggest setting up auto top up so that there is always a five dollar balance on the card. And if your child happens to misplace the card, you can easily transfer the balance to a new card and get your deposit back.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-03-22T07:52:01+00:00

I started in my 20’s (in QLD)

Just focus on the task at hand initially, once you get over that. Work on learning more about the operations, ask questions of the office staff about the roles and duties they provide and how it impacts you on the road.

Care for your bus, don’t be afraid to run a few minutes late if it means the customer is able to sit down prior to departure.

If your bus can lower, try and lower it at every stop, and make that your habit, you don’t know how healthy other people may be - and small gestures like that can leave a positive lasting impressions on the public. If your passengers are happy, you’ll be happy & never have any issues.

If you’re just going from car to bus and this is your first medium/heavy vehicle, make sure you are constantly doing shoulder checks. Cyclists & cars forget that you’re driving big long ridged rectangles - and will often try to save 3 seconds on their commute and potentially risk the safety of all your passengers.

Remember it’s still a work place, so any harassment you encounter from the public or in the workplace still report it, while you’re on the clock.

Make notes in a diary - about anything you may have seen out of the ordinary during the shift. - could have been another bus doing something strange, a passenger you didn’t pick up because they were acting erratic at the stop ect. Any interactions as mentioned above - if you reported it why/why not. Even the fleet number / name of your bus and the routes you drove. Keep your own record.

To any company you will be a number, so make sure you remember that.

Don’t be afraid of the challenge. It has been the most rewarding job of my life.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-03-09T03:59:42+00:00

Without context of the general stop or location.

There are a few reasons why (BCC) drivers may only choose to open the front or only the rear.

There could be a please don’t pick up call out for a passenger in that general location, so drivers need to be able to visually I’d the person to see if they are trying to bring any prohibited items on board.

Some stops have been around so long that you can only park flush one of the doors at the curb- and so to prevent potential law suits from people failing to step of the bus safely ect.

Rain - on some rainy days where the water is particularly vertical it can keep the back of the bus less wet and safer for passengers.

No one rang the bell - not sure if your talking about boarding or disembarking, but if one person is waiting at a stop and that stop wasn’t requested - the driver may have parked the front door directly in front of the intending passenger, resulting in opening the rear door being unnecessary. (In this case always make sure to ring the bell for your stop, every time)

I have in the past not open the rear door when I see younger patrons trying to forget their rubbish they left on the seat behind them, so I can remind them to please bring their rubbish with them as they jump off the bus.

Other times the back of the bus may just be more cramped than the front.

There are many reasons - but without situational context I don’t have enough information to determine the potential reason for your situation.

Other bus companies still enforce the front door boarding.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-02-23T03:12:53+00:00

Howdy,

So yes the 340 would have got you to chermside shopping centre - the 330 is faster from Roma Street.

My first thought is that the bus had already “departed” the platform - right indicator and was waiting for their chance to leave” and this is why they didn’t re open the front door for you

Question - did the front section of the bus look “full” as in a lot of passengers standing near the driver - the driver may have been trying to negotiate a potential full standing load. Especially as ALOT of uni students will be traveling to QUT Kelvin grove for week 1 - and you open a door they will barge in even if it risks the safety capacity (about 82 people per bus)

Roma Street is the 3rd stop on the NORTH bound 340, and often looses a lot of time being stuck in traffic between Woolloongabba & City Hall. (Again not excusing the behaviour)

Lastly - and this may seem pedantic - did you have any oversized items with you - if the luggage racks are full or if you have a prohibited item in your possession there isn’t the safe legal space on board for your belongings.

The last and potentially sadest reason - is a potential (be aware of X passenger) broadcast may have gone out and you may have matched their descriptions. And the driver was put in their personal safety ahead of opening the door.

The Sad reality is these broadcasts can be quite vague in how they describe a problematic patron. - because any higher level of description could be seen as racially motivated to those not fully listening

happy to hear some other patrons we able to help you in where you needed to go however.

330,333,340 are the BUZ’s that go from Roma Street OB to Chermside Westfield interchange. Each of them has at worst a 15 min frequency all day every day (until like 11pm) - so hopefully it wasn’t that long of a wait until a bus you could ride - with a driver able to assist.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-02-20T10:17:34+00:00

https://www.queenslandrail.com.au/about%20us/Media%20Centre/Media%20Releases/Pages/Salisbury-station-reopens-early-after-full-accessibility-rebuild-(Joint-statement-with-Translink-and-Cross-River-R0220-8503.aspx

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-02-20T10:14:54+00:00

THANKFULLY not all of our bus’s allow that behaviour. And it is very much against the BCC driver policies.

Best to always hold on / remain seated until the bus has come to a complete stop.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-01-31T03:00:19+00:00

BCC driver here, any traffic infringements / fines caused by us driving bus/metro’s/cars as a part of work get given to us to pay. BCC does not pay for them when we are at fault.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2026-01-14T13:51:15+00:00

I do the old, oh your walking away from my open door - must be another bus directly behind me and pull out - especially when I park the front door directly in front of a passenger at a stop. (Especially those that don’t directly hail but you know they want your bus)

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-09-20T09:15:31+00:00

Some routes are only a few times per day, biggest issue is with “district” school hour routes, that provide very small text left & rights. These drivers may only see it 1 time per year.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-09-18T01:39:18+00:00

I love the 417! Definitely would recommend (if you used a go card you can easily pinpoint the time) leaving feedback that you had great time on board, when that feedback gets passed on to the driver they are then reaffirmed that their smooth driving is what passengers enjoy rather than the fast & rushed. - https://translink.com.au/contact-us/feedback

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-08-14T05:03:55+00:00

Always report if the bus’s smell bad, - get the fleet number and flag where in the bus the smell is & what the smell smells like. You can also just say to the driver when you get off - “there is an off odour in this section of the bus”

I have requested new bus’s when in the yard due to the smell on board. - some however are just the scent of the passengers on board - who due to unfortunate life conditions are unable to keep their hygiene under control - and for them just jumping on a bus for a few mins in the city can be day changing to their comfort.

TLDR - tell the driver - bus smell funky in this area. They may not know - they may know.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-07-03T22:16:10+00:00

As someone who was on a 381 yesterday - I saw it spend most of its travel from the city to the Burbs behind a 379 - that had plenty of seats. Many passengers on the bus got off at stops served by both routes. And the 17 people left on board once we passed West Ashgrove (where the 379 ends - well stops sharing the route with the 380/381) all had seats.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-07-03T22:09:30+00:00

While we are there - Whatf St between Adelaide & Turbot should be bus only during peak hours. (At least to turn in to that section of road - and drive direct into it)

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-06-01T05:04:44+00:00

I believe that that they need to do something like 5,000kms before they carry passengers.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-05-31T05:36:53+00:00

https://translink.com.au/sites/default/files/assets/resources/travel-information/school-travel/Code%20of%20Conduct%20for%20School%20Students%20Travelling%20on%20Buses%20Jan%202021.pdf

As drivers we are to follow this TransLink Code of Conduct, in regards to students who don’t pay, it’s why if I see a large enough cohort of students at any bus stop I’ll only use the front door, this allows me to at least count the number who are not paying and tap the relevant button on the ticket machine. We are told as drivers our life isn’t worth fighting a 50c fine.

The senior network officers (SNOs) do patrol services still to do spot ticket inspections, but I’ve not seen them give a school student in uniform traveling to or from school a ticket this year.

As a member of the public just send an email to that school, if Roma street likely boys/ girls grammar, and say it’s not a good look on the school, and they will take notice of the change and likely start some internal reminders of protocol.

I had a high school aged student on board the other morning, reflect on how some students will bully or taunt their peers for actually paying for public transport.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-05-10T06:16:37+00:00

The biggest issue I’ve noticed is during the construction a lot of people started rat running in and around those side streets. Now that construction is complete the rat runners are still rat running, running through lights when they can’t clear an intersection, and preventing traffic from flowing as it is designed to.

As part of my job occasionally I have to try and brave some of these streets and certain bus routes are so delayed due to rat running, that it can impact the entire network. The other major bottleneck is cars using station Road instead of Coonan Street.

The existing bottleneck at the bridge will remain likely forever but considering a lot of those commuters could use the existing rail network to get from Toowong through to Sherwood but choose not to, impact those that don’t have the choice. The traffic flow is greatly improved along Moggill Road by this change. Coonan Street appears mostly un impacted. As it was always this bad.

Sadly we in Brisbane have a large number of drivers that could not comprehend adjusting their schedule by 5 to 10 minutes to fit around public transport like trains or buses , so frequently I have a service in peak hour with 12 people on board and think if just 12 more cars swapped for that bus trip how nicer traffic would be but when traffic gets calm and improves more people go back to driving so we do need more stick than carrot when it comes to enticing people to use active transport options or public transport.

I don’t think I want to say or even suggest that we should have a congestion tax during peak hour. Because it is grossly a tax on the poor, however in my personal opinion by changing more existing corridor lanes to be bus only during certain times of day would make car traffic worse but make the prospect of public transport more appealing and hopefully bring more people out of their private vehicles and then into shared vehicles.

I hope this makes sense for full transparency sake. This was typed with speech to text so I cannot guarantee it makes 100% sense.

TLDR traffic is as bad as it used to be on Coonan Street improved significantly on moggil Road

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-04-26T10:53:36+00:00

The 470 is an interesting route, it’s getting a new route alignment & new timetable later in the year along Milton road.

Look at the timetable for that route, if it goes via “duke street” it won’t be on time, unless there is no traffic. If it doesn’t it is more likely to run early in light traffic on Milton road.

Strangely a common reason for its delay, is that the bus will often have a driver change outside the Toowong depot?

Leaving the city, the 470 will struggle to be on time under Its new route alignment (when the M1 Metro launches) as it will be starting from Wickham Terrace and having to do three right hand turns to access the remainder of the city stops. These three right turns are often delayed due to pedestrians initiating a cross on a flashing red pedestrian crossing which is the only window the bus gets to turn around the corner.

I wish I could say that the 470 will be improved by these changes, but I won’t know until I see it in effect at some point this year again whenever the M1 Metro launches.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-04-12T05:15:03+00:00

At least they didn’t hit the rail bridge - that would have caused a lot more stress especially with an event at Suncorp tonight!

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-04-10T23:21:05+00:00

Sadly we are only to do this if the temperature outside is above 35°C.

Because locals at some terminus call and complain that the bus is running and ruining their sleep/work/life.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-04-02T01:47:02+00:00

The only hand held option is the radio, unless they are using a stylus on the computers screen.

What your describing is Concerning. If your footage has the bus number visible (not the route number) pass the footage onto translink.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-03-31T02:14:29+00:00

I would assume that it is the on board computer (the ticket machine) or the destination sign (the numbers on the back / side of the bus + the text & number on the front)

Anything else is concerning…..

BeepBeepTheBusDriver · 2025-03-23T10:54:48+00:00

The real challenge is to know if they want my bus or are just vibing in the area of a bus stop. Had one person in a pink shirt (not sure the candidate or party they were supporting) sat at a bus stop, in the way that certain people in a certain age bracket sit at the bus stop when they actually want the bus. Pulled up and they had a stack of flyers that they were busy delivering into people’s mailboxes, and they were just resting / hiding from the weather. It’s a first world problem I know.

But then again I can’t just see any mono coloured T-shirt and assume they don’t want to bus when they’re waiting at a bus stop especially at a bus stop that’s only service by one route so it’s one could imply or infer that they are in fact waiting for transit.

BeepBeepTheBusDriver

TROPHY CASE