The M1 transit lane was "ideologically driven", according to Transport Minister Scott Emerson. Credit:Craig Abraham Now, as the motorway's old transit stretches are replaced with extra car lanes, the Department of Transport has launched an investigation into the effectiveness of T2 lanes at Anzac Avenue, Rothwell. This comes as Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal our continued love affair with the car. According to the 2011 census, 58.7 per cent of commuters in Brisbane said they travelled to work using only their car, compared with 58 per cent in 2006. But as the number of drivers increased, the number of car passengers fell, with just 5.6 per cent of car-bound commuters travelling as passengers in 2011, compared with 6.1 per cent in 2006.

However, there has been a slight increase in the number of people using public transport. In 2006, 8.36 per cent of people travelling to work did so using only a train, bus or ferry; in 2011 that rose to 9.3 per cent. So are transit lanes less important now more of us are using public transport? Or, given the growing number of people choosing to commute only by car, do transit lanes still serve a purpose? “The main intention for transit lanes is really to get more buses on roads running more frequently with more people on board,” says Associate Professor Jonathan Bunker, a civil engineering expert at the Queensland University of Technology. “But we do have the secondary aspect of the T2 concept, which is to try to get people to carpool.” Both uses play a part in reducing traffic congestion and negative environmental impacts. However, Professor Bunker says one is significantly easier to achieve than the other; as the figures show, we're less inclined to share a car to work now than we were six years ago.

“There's only so much we can do to change people's behaviour – you can't have carpooling raised as a permanent solution [to congestion troubles] with the lives we lead today,” he says. “If there's a case for a transit lane, it's about buses – we'll allow high-occupancy vehicles as an added benefit.” Dr Mahmoud Mesbah Namini, a transport network analyst at the University of Queensland, agrees. “Our research shows carpooling is effective in terms of reducing congestion, depending on the case, but in general people are less likely to make the decision to share a car, as they are to travel on a bus,” he says. “But only if the bus is supported as part of an integrated public transport system.” And buses on transit lanes are only effective if they are high frequency.

Both experts agree there is no point to transit lanes that support infrequent, half-empty buses, or replicate the effect of a dedicated busway such as the one built adjacent to the now scratched Pacific Motorway T2 lanes. As such, the city could benefit from transit lanes along roads already heavy with well-patronised buses. Professor Bunker suggests Milton, Gympie, Ipswich and Old Cleveland roads could all benefit from transit lanes. “Old Cleveland carries about 60 buses per hour during the morning peak,” he says. “That's 2500 passengers you can push through. A bus lane looks really attractive then.” Professor Bunker would also like to see transit lanes return to Coronation Drive, a plan already being considered at City Hall. Though deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said a decision on reinstating the transit lanes was not planned until after the completion of the $1.5 billion Legacy Way tunnel, he said it was being considered.

Transit lanes were also “under consideration” as the council continues to finalise the design for Kingsford Smith Drive he said. “Transit lanes are designed to improve the overall traffic flow, and where that continues to occur we will keep those transit lanes,” he said. But as Dr Namini points out, transit lanes are only one aspect of a very complex problem. “There should be a holistic view when it comes to public transport,” he said. “If you want to send the message that there is support for public transport and support a behaviour change in people, we should not only look at one project or scheme, we should look at all the schemes.

“Brisbane has some serious problems in terms of all of this, but perhaps the biggest problem is that of budgets, and how committed people actually are to change.”