February 19, 2025 • 18 mins
In this episode of Transit Unplugged, Paul Comfort interviews Ryan Murphy, the Chair of the City Council's Transportation Committee in Brisbane, while riding one of Brisbane’s famous CityCat ferries to talk about the vibrant and evolving transit system in this river city.
Episode Highlights:
- CityCat Ferries: Discover the unique CityCat ferry service that operates along the Brisbane River, connecting 22 stations and carrying about 5 million passengers annually. Ryan shares how this service has become a beloved part of the city's tourism and commuter landscape.
- Innovative Metro Project: Learn about the groundbreaking Brisbane Metro project, featuring double articulated electric buses designed to alleviate congestion and enhance the capacity of the city's busway system. Ryan discusses the integration of these high-tech vehicles and their role in transforming Brisbane's public transport.
- Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): Ryan explains how Brisbane's extensive bus network, supported by dedicated busways, serves as the backbone of the city's transit system. He highlights the city's efforts to improve bus-to-rail connections and the significant reforms underway ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
- Historical and Future Growth: From its origins as a port city to its current status as a bustling metropolis, Brisbane's transit system has continually evolved. Ryan provides insights into the city's plans for future growth, including the Cross River Rail project and the ambitious goals set for the upcoming Olympics.
And don’t forget to catch Ryan, the city of Brisbane, and all the projects he talked about in the latest episode of Transit Unplugged TV on YouTube: https://youtu.be/M04d9d-xpzk
Have your say in the Transit Unplugged listener survey! It only takes a few minutes and we greatly appreciate your help and feedback. https://transitunplugged.com/survey/
00:00 Introduction to Ryan Murphy and Brisbane's Transport
00:38 Exploring Brisbane's Ferry System
05:14 Brisbane's Bus Network and BRT System
07:38 Personal Message from Paul...
08:17 Brisbane Metro: The Future of Public Transport
12:12 Rail Developments and the 2032 Olympics
15:06 Ryan Murphy's Background and Vision
16:21 Australia's Public Transport Priorities
17:59 Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Modaxo Inc., its affiliates or subsidiaries, or any entities they represent (“Modaxo”). This production belongs to Modaxo, and may contain information that may be subject to trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property rights and restrictions. This production provides general information, and should not be relied on as legal...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Ryan Murphy is a lifelong residentof Brisbane, Australia, and he was
the youngest councillor ever electedto the City Council back in 2012.
And now, he's the Chair of the BrisbaneCity Council Transport Committee, which
Which plans for integrated public andactive transport services across Brisbane,
and I'm excited that he's a guest onour Transit Unplugged podcast today.
(00:27):
I'm Paul Comfort, and I recently went toAustralia for a 10 day visit and recorded
a number of podcasts and a couple ofour TV shows, and this is the last of
four podcasts that came out of that.
Ryan and I met, uh, actually,uh, at the docks, uh, and the,
where the ferry system takes off.
They've got an amazing ferry system.
We recorded this podcast whileon board several ferries and on
(00:48):
the docks there, uh, at Brisbane.
And, uh, he talks about the CityCat systemand how they're growing ferry systems.
To become not just a way toget from A to B, but actually
be a destination on their own.
He also talks about their crossriver rail project going underneath
the river that we visited.
And you can see on this month'sepisode of Transit Unplugged TV.
(01:10):
And he talks about the newBrisbane BRT system, Metro.
Which is these amazing buses thatlook like you're on a rail system.
We also showcase them on thismonth's episode two on YouTube.
So we have a television show,Transit Unplugged TV, that kind
of goes along with this podcast.
So the things he's talking aboutyou can see if you go over to our
YouTube channel, Transit Unplugged TV.
(01:31):
This though is an amazingpodcast interview.
With a bright leader fornot only Australia, but I
would suggest for the world.
A global transport leader.
I think you'll really enjoy thisconversation and feel his passion
for public transportation likemine, a fellow transit evangelist.
All on this episode of Transit Unplugged.
(01:53):
Excited to be in Brisbane on the Big Riverhere with the chair of the City Council's
Transportation Committee, Ryan Murphy.
Ryan, thanks so much for hosting us today.
Good afternoon, Paul.
Thanks for having me on the show.
Tell us about where we're at right now.
We're riding inside oneof your awesome tell us.
We're sitting on a CityCat,which is a catamaran.
It carries about 170 people, and theygo up and down the Brisbane River to 22
(02:15):
stations and stops throughout our river.
And we carry about 5 million passengersa year on this system, and in Brisbane,
for a long time, I think it's been number3 on TripAdvisor, in terms of the things
that people do when they come to the city.
Really?
Yeah, so, I mean, a lot of cities, theirpublic transport doesn't really feature.
There is an attraction in it'sown right, but I think people
really love the CityCats andBrisbane residents love them too.
(02:37):
Yeah, I was just in Halifax, and wenton their ferries, and then also in,
my buddy Kevin Quinn runs TransLinkin Vancouver, Canada, and they've got
them too, and the same kind of thing.
People just ride them just to ride them,but this is a fantastic, service, you
offer how many vehicles and all thatkind of stuff and then fit it into
the context of your overall network.
Yeah, we've got about 22, CityCats.
We've got five KittyCats, too.
(02:58):
They're little, littlecross river versions.
Oh, okay.
CityCats and KittyCats.
That's great, man.
Yeah, that's right.
A little bit of a Brisbane sense of humor.
We try to put in everything.
But, it provides effectively a 15to 30 minute service, a 15 minutes
during the peak at 30 minutesoff peak, up and down the river.
the peak lasts throughout theday though, so there's that
constant supply of, people.
(03:19):
And we know our busiest dayson Saturday when, when Brisbane
residents like to get out and theydon't need to be at work on time.
So, you know, they could take a littlebit longer to get where they want to go.
And we know that the mix of, touristsand leisure users and commuters
is about 50 50 on this service.
So it does perform an important commuterfunction, but as I said, it's part
of the tourism offering in our city.
And you can go anywhere, all the way upriver, it's about a 90 minute journey
(03:42):
from the start of the mouth of theriver all the way up to the last stop.
So you can
What river is this?
It's the Brisbane River.
That's what I thought.
Yeah.
Brisbane River.
Yeah.
I don't mention the name becauseit's the name of the city, but
yeah, we're on the Brisbane River.
You know, this is unique.
People in America don't think, realizethis is really a river city and like, it
like runs its way through the city andlike the whole city is built around it.
Yeah, the whole city is built around theriver And so bridges are really important
(04:04):
in Brisbane for getting around and they'rebig bottlenecks in our transport system,
so the river is a great way to avoidthose windy roads that snake through
Brisbane and just get out there and see.
And it used to be a port city, there wasa lot of maritime, agricultural traffic
that would come up here and load hay andcopper and minerals and then as that's
(04:26):
all moved to dedicated port facilitiesat the mouth of the river, Brisbane
residents all of a sudden felt comfortableto live on the river in the 50s and 60s
and, it was about 1996 that the LordMayor of Brisbane, then Jim Soorley,
decided to, start the CityCat system.
A limited number of terminals, a limitednumber of services and we're now in
our fourth generation of vessels.
We've got a double decker.
(04:46):
They keep getting bigger and bigger andbigger and more accessible, so, you know,
we've got quite a big fleet now and,operated by River City Ferries which
is, Sealink and so they're a listedcompany in Australia, they run maritime
services, all around the country for us.
I was just Just with Howard Collins,my friend down from Sydney, we were on
Tasmania and he was there inspecting sevennew ferries that they're getting built
in Tasmania that they'll bring back toSydney and run on their ferry service.
(05:09):
So, a lot of water, obviously, around theisland and a lot of great ferry services.
Tell us about, Ryan, the overalltransportation network in Brisbane.
Walk us through some ofwhat you've got here.
Brisbane's a city really,built on the back of the bus.
It's a city that, the city councilruns its own transport company.
Next year, 2025, will be our 100th yearin operation, and we own, and operate,
(05:32):
all, the vast majority of the city's,public transport fleet, whether that's
buses or CityCats, A lot of other cities,like Sydney and Melbourne, very much,
cities built on the back of rail, and raildoes the heavy lifting, but in Brisbane,
we've got 27 kilometers of busways,and buses, do the heavy lifting, so.
Dedicated busways.
Yeah, dedicated busways.
I saw them today.
Yeah.
Some are even grade separated, actually.
(05:52):
It's everything it looks like.
It's great.
Yeah.
Really high quality infrastructure.
and, it means we're a lot more similar toa city like, you know, Curitiba or Rio.
so a lot of Australians don't reallyunderstand that, that there are
bus rapid transit cities out therebecause they don't visit the places
where they are, but they are there.
You just have to look hard enough to find
them.
Yeah.
So you've got a lot ofbuses that you run yourself.
(06:13):
Yep.
Yep.
And then what else?
So the bus now it'sabout 80 million a year.
We have a city rail network which isquite expansive but only about a third
of the patronage of the bus network.
And historically the Council andthe State Government built these
networks in parallel to each other.
So there's not been that really greatmulti modal opportunity that you get
in some cities between bus and rail.
(06:34):
We're in the process of fixing that now.
We signed a landmark agreement withthe State Government earlier this year
to fix our bus to rail connectionsand really integrate all the modes
ahead of the Olympics in 2032.
So there's some big reforms happeningin the city over the next few years.
Well Councilman, we were, we jumpedoff one ferry and we got on a new one.
Tell me about this new one.
this is the, the next generation,generation 4 CityCat, so, this,
(06:57):
I think there's about 6 or 7 ofthese in service at the moment.
they are our latest offering.
They feature these wide panoramicwindows, space for people in wheelchairs,
previously couldn't see out the windowsbecause the windows were too high.
Okay.
But now they've got the bestseat in the house right here.
you've got USB charging throughout,better, more comfortable
seating and, wider, spaces.
(07:18):
We even put a bar in this one as well.
Oh, nice.
So we hire them out forfunctions and parties oh yeah.
Occasionally.
and it's got a, a double deck aswell, so you can go up on the top
and there's a, a, a sun shade.
'cause we are unfortunately, get quite alot of, UV light up here in Queensland.
so you can sit up there on thetop deck and watch the river go
by and the wind in your hair.
It's a really great.
way to spend the weekend.
(07:42):
We'll get right back to myinterview with Ryan Murphy, but
first I have a favor to ask of you.
Please take a moment toparticipate in our listener survey.
It'll only take a few minutes of yourtime, and your input is invaluable to
me for planning future episodes, and Iwant to get your feedback on the show.
So just go to transitunplugged.
com forward slash surveyto fill it out online.
(08:06):
The link will also be inthis podcast's show notes.
Thank you for your help.
I really appreciate it.
All right, let's jump backinto the conversation on buses.
You were telling me about that thebus network is the backbone of what
you've got going on here, but today Ivisited one of your amazing operations,
which you piloted, I think, fora month and soon when you get the
(08:27):
whole fleet in, you'll jump back in.
It's a BRT like service, but it's a Metro,and I'm telling you, Ryan, the vehicles
are some of the coolest things I've seen.
Yeah, it's a really cool vehicle, and whatit is is part of Brisbane Metro, which
is It's a bus rapid transit project, toreplace, several of our congested lines,
the triple one, the sixty six, with, alarge double articulated electric bus.
(08:51):
So, this is the Hess Light Tram 25,it's in service in a number of cities in
France and Switzerland, but we've takenthat bus that was existing, we've brought
it into Australian design rules, we'veupgraded it, we've put, six residential
homes worth of air conditioners onthe top because they don't need them
a lot in, France and Switzerland.
And we brought it here, to enable it toimprove the capacity of our busway system.
(09:13):
And, what we do is we, we basically, theconcept is we take the existing bus routes
that have buses that can carry about 76people on them, we replace them with, a
bus that can carry 170 people, and thenwe also, truncate large parts of our
network where the bus would previously runhalf or a quarter full all the way into
the CBD, we then truncate that at buswaystations to bring that resource back
(09:35):
into the network So, it's about Brisbanedoing what other bigger cities have done,
getting used to the two seat journeys.
That's what Brisbane Metro is about in ourcity and we also deal with a big problem
that we have in the core of our city,which is bus congestion and we take about
a third of those buses clogging up the CBDand redirect them into the suburbs, so it
solves a number of busway problems that we
(09:58):
have.
I saw that today actually.
I saw bus after busafter bus this morning.
I was at Anzac Square and I was havingcoffee and I, when I used to run
Baltimore, I saw the same problem.
I'd have, you know, 11 buses go byin one minute and it was congested
and so that, I get what you're doing.
You're going, this is thefeeder into the main network.
(10:19):
Yeah, I mean a lot of,a lot of cities do that.
I think it's a bit of a choicebetween, you know, what type of
light rail are they going to have.
Yeah.
In Brisbane, we did look at converting thebusway to light rail, but we have such a
big out of catchment, that we would haveto all terminate, I wouldn't be able to
use the busway at all, so there'd be somany thousands of introduced transfers.
(10:40):
This, this product sort of sitsbetween, buses at the high level
and then trams at the low level.
It's a, it's a tram or alight rail light capacity.
Improvement, but withoutanywhere near the cost.
So if you think about something like,your iPhone has wireless charging, well
this is like a tram without the wires.
So we're effectively going back tothe tram system that Brisbane had,
back in the, in the, in the forties.
(11:01):
and we're starting again with the, thelatest and greatest wireless technology.
So these vehicles all use flashcharging from panto graphs and, we
charge 'em at the end of every trip.
So they'll, they'll finish theirroute metro one or two, and they'll
flash charge for just six minutes.
Battery's fully topped up,and then off they'll go.
And you hope to open this service inyour 100th anniversary year of 2025.
(11:22):
Is that right?
Yeah, we do.
It's it's exciting.
we, we've had a lot of interest fromall around the world, about what we're
doing here to, to really take thatbus rapid transit product forwards.
And, a lot of cities, you know, in, inparticularly, you know, Vancouver has
been reaching out to us, Auckland, youknow, big cities with, busways, but they
want to know how to get the next levelof performance out of their busway.
(11:43):
Yeah.
And, we think this This product sitsat a great point in between that full
conversion to light rail and justrunning buses at a rapid frequency
because you get both capacity and youget a really high quality passenger
offering and people are seeking thatout more and more in public transport.
It's not just about where it goes,it's about whether you get there
in style and comfort and whetherthere's those amenities for you.
(12:05):
It feels and looks like you're on a brandnew light rail vehicle on the inside.
It's got that vibe.
Speaking of rail Let's talk about rail.
Brisbane is the capitalof Queensland, right?
You're That's right.
Yes.
And so, the State's heavily involved inthe rail service here, is that right?
Yeah, the state government runs the,the rail network, Queensland Rail, City
Rail, it goes by those sort of names,it's, it's actually a, a reasonably
(12:27):
good network across Brisbane, has greatcoverage, around the historical rail
lines, the issue has always been the,you know, the cost to serve and, and,
the patronage has never been particularlyimpressive to warrant further investment.
The city's going through a verysignificant investment in rail at
the moment with Cross River Rail,which is the second crossing of the
Brisbane River of the rail network.
So it links the Gold Coast line, Beanlealine, with a new line that runs under the
(12:53):
river and creates some new undergroundstations in the heart of Brisbane City.
That's wrapping up at the moment, Idon't think it'll commission probably
until 2026, but that'll add a lotmore capacity into the railway.
network as well so we can rampup that frequency and capacity
ahead of the Olympics in 2032.
Yeah, let's talk a little about that.
(13:13):
Tell us about the plans the city has anda little bit about the Olympics coming.
So we just did a show in LA.
Of course, they're the next one andthen you're the one right after that.
Yeah, Paris, LA and then Brisbane.
City, city no
one's ever heard of.
They will after this.
Well, we, we, we.
We are so humbled and so honouredto be standing, you know, with Paris
and LA in those Olympic cities andwe understand the task in front of
(13:39):
us to retrofit this city's, the smallcity's public transport system to a
system that has to host summer games.
I mean, that is a momentous undertakingand it really fills me with both,
you know, hope of what we canchange and what we can do in the
next few years and also dread of,you know, what if we get it wrong?
We've put in place a range of initiatives,the Lord Mayor a few months ago
(14:00):
released a document called the Raceto Gold, and it's all about these
transformative improvements we can maketo our city's public transport network
in the eight year run up to the Games.
And we're very much looking to bus rapidtransit as one of those things that
we know we can do that in eight years.
If we want to launch a light rail projectin Australia today, it's eight years just
to get the permitting done basically,so you know, it's similar in America.
(14:23):
Of But bus rapid transit can give ussome of those lighter touch solutions,
things like transitways and bus prioritywith these metro vehicles that we've
got now and we can deliver these stepchange improvements in capacity to
parts of the city where we, we know weactually need to increase the amount
of seats we have on public transportby 50 percent to meet the games demand.
(14:44):
So if you go to any city in the world andsay, I need you to increase the public
transport system by 50%, most plannerswould tell you, you're crazy, right?
It's going to enable somereally bold decision making.
We need to make decisions thatmight have been very difficult
with the politics of today.
There's an Olympics urgency and Brisbaneresidents really don't want to see the
city let itself down on the world stage.
(15:04):
So we're going to use that, we're goingto harness that over the next few years.
Tell me some about your backgroundand history and how you got
so interested and involved intransportation and in government.
I've been in this role forcoming up on five years.
And, prior to this I was in publicrelations for major infrastructure
and resource projects in Queensland.
things that people generally don't likein their backyard, like, copper mines
and, dams and, pipelines and thingslike that, so, I, I guess I got used
(15:28):
to having difficult conversations aboutthings that, that are necessary for
the economy but, that people might notnecessarily like in their backyard.
Now I get to do something thatis, so exciting because I'm
serving as a civil servant.
CityCouncil.
CityCouncil.
I've been at Council for 12 years now.
Oh wow.
I love serving my community, but thetransport role gives me the opportunity
to help our city kind of grow up and fixthe problems that I experienced as a user,
(15:51):
as a consumer of our city's transport.
I don't like that, why can't Isee a screen on this CityCat at
the moment telling me what my nextdestination is and how long it's
going to take me to get there.
These are the customer facing elementsthat so many transport systems are
getting right around the world.
I want to bring that here so that wecan also get that right and we've got so
many great companies that are looking tomake Brisbane home, looking to set up a
(16:13):
presence in the city since we were awardedthe Games, that I actually think this
is not going to be as hard as it looks.
It just takes will.
That's wonderful.
Let's talk about the nation of Australia.
Where does public transportation sit inthe list of priorities for this country
and where do you think it's going?
I don't think transport has been aparticular priority for Australian
(16:34):
politicians until recently.
I think successes like the Sydney Metroreally, I think, shown politicians of
both sides in Australia the potentialfor these game changing projects to
actually make a lasting differenceI mean, the amount of money that we
spend in this country, particularlyon highway and road transport, is
(16:57):
astronomical compared to what wewould spend on urban public transport.
and, there are real benefits to ESGand the sustainability of cities that
you can drive when you get publictransport systems functioning well.
I always make the argument, aroundthe need for public transport,
around the avoided cost of roadwidening and road infrastructure.
I mean, you look at L.
A. You know, they try to build theirway out of traffic congestion by adding
(17:20):
more lanes and it's, it's not worked.
But you improve the publictransport product, you can
avoid billions in road work.
So if you try and make that, I think,financial argument, because Australians
are very practical in that way, all ofa sudden you start to see people go,
Oh, actually, maybe we should have anadditional bus, or maybe the span of
hours should be a little bit longer.
but you have to reach that threshold ofquality that people will, will use it.
(17:42):
And, you know, I think we're very close.
That's great.
Ryan we wish you the very bestas you continue to help lead this
city's transportation future.
No, thanks for doingwhat you're doing, Paul.
It's very important and verymuch appreciated for all of us
out there that are trying tomake a difference in this field.
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode of Transit Unplugged
with our special guest, Ryan Murphy.
(18:05):
Hi, I'm Tris Hussey, editor of thepodcast, and coming up next week on
the show, we have Tom Drozt CEO of BenFranklin Transit in Washington State.
As Paul mentioned in the episode,we'd really appreciate your
help with our listener survey.
Just go to transitunplugged.com/survey,and just take a few minutes to
fill it out, it'll really helpus plan episodes and keep making
(18:27):
Transit Unplugged better and better.
You'll also find a link tothe survey in the show notes.
Transit Unplugged isbrought to you by Modaxo.
At Modaxo, we're passionate aboutmoving the world's people, and at
Transit Unplugged, we're passionateabout telling those stories.
So until next week, ridesafe and ride happy.
Ryan Murphy is a lifelong residentof Brisbane, Australia, and he was
the youngest councillor ever electedto the City Council back in 2012.
And now, he's the Chair of the BrisbaneCity Council Transport Committee, which
Which plans for integrated public andactive transport services across Brisbane,
and I'm excited that he's a guest onour Transit Unplugged podcast today.
(00:27):
I'm Paul Comfort, and I recently went toAustralia for a 10 day visit and recorded
a number of podcasts and a couple ofour TV shows, and this is the last of
four podcasts that came out of that.
Ryan and I met, uh, actually,uh, at the docks, uh, and the,
where the ferry system takes off.
They've got an amazing ferry system.
We recorded this podcast whileon board several ferries and on
(00:48):
the docks there, uh, at Brisbane.
And, uh, he talks about the CityCat systemand how they're growing ferry systems.
To become not just a way toget from A to B, but actually
be a destination on their own.
He also talks about their crossriver rail project going underneath
the river that we visited.
And you can see on this month'sepisode of Transit Unplugged TV.
(01:10):
And he talks about the newBrisbane BRT system, Metro.
Which is these amazing buses thatlook like you're on a rail system.
We also showcase them on thismonth's episode two on YouTube.
So we have a television show,Transit Unplugged TV, that kind
of goes along with this podcast.
So the things he's talking aboutyou can see if you go over to our
YouTube channel, Transit Unplugged TV.
(01:31):
This though is an amazingpodcast interview.
With a bright leader fornot only Australia, but I
would suggest for the world.
A global transport leader.
I think you'll really enjoy thisconversation and feel his passion
for public transportation likemine, a fellow transit evangelist.
All on this episode of Transit Unplugged.
(01:53):
Excited to be in Brisbane on the Big Riverhere with the chair of the City Council's
Transportation Committee, Ryan Murphy.
Ryan, thanks so much for hosting us today.
Good afternoon, Paul.
Thanks for having me on the show.
Tell us about where we're at right now.
We're riding inside oneof your awesome tell us.
We're sitting on a CityCat,which is a catamaran.
It carries about 170 people, and theygo up and down the Brisbane River to 22
(02:15):
stations and stops throughout our river.
And we carry about 5 million passengersa year on this system, and in Brisbane,
for a long time, I think it's been number3 on TripAdvisor, in terms of the things
that people do when they come to the city.
Really?
Yeah, so, I mean, a lot of cities, theirpublic transport doesn't really feature.
There is an attraction in it'sown right, but I think people
really love the CityCats andBrisbane residents love them too.
(02:37):
Yeah, I was just in Halifax, and wenton their ferries, and then also in,
my buddy Kevin Quinn runs TransLinkin Vancouver, Canada, and they've got
them too, and the same kind of thing.
People just ride them just to ride them,but this is a fantastic, service, you
offer how many vehicles and all thatkind of stuff and then fit it into
the context of your overall network.
Yeah, we've got about 22, CityCats.
We've got five KittyCats, too.
(02:58):
They're little, littlecross river versions.
Oh, okay.
CityCats and KittyCats.
That's great, man.
Yeah, that's right.
A little bit of a Brisbane sense of humor.
We try to put in everything.
But, it provides effectively a 15to 30 minute service, a 15 minutes
during the peak at 30 minutesoff peak, up and down the river.
the peak lasts throughout theday though, so there's that
constant supply of, people.
(03:19):
And we know our busiest dayson Saturday when, when Brisbane
residents like to get out and theydon't need to be at work on time.
So, you know, they could take a littlebit longer to get where they want to go.
And we know that the mix of, touristsand leisure users and commuters
is about 50 50 on this service.
So it does perform an important commuterfunction, but as I said, it's part
of the tourism offering in our city.
And you can go anywhere, all the way upriver, it's about a 90 minute journey
(03:42):
from the start of the mouth of theriver all the way up to the last stop.
So you can
What river is this?
It's the Brisbane River.
That's what I thought.
Yeah.
Brisbane River.
Yeah.
I don't mention the name becauseit's the name of the city, but
yeah, we're on the Brisbane River.
You know, this is unique.
People in America don't think, realizethis is really a river city and like, it
like runs its way through the city andlike the whole city is built around it.
Yeah, the whole city is built around theriver And so bridges are really important
(04:04):
in Brisbane for getting around and they'rebig bottlenecks in our transport system,
so the river is a great way to avoidthose windy roads that snake through
Brisbane and just get out there and see.
And it used to be a port city, there wasa lot of maritime, agricultural traffic
that would come up here and load hay andcopper and minerals and then as that's
(04:26):
all moved to dedicated port facilitiesat the mouth of the river, Brisbane
residents all of a sudden felt comfortableto live on the river in the 50s and 60s
and, it was about 1996 that the LordMayor of Brisbane, then Jim Soorley,
decided to, start the CityCat system.
A limited number of terminals, a limitednumber of services and we're now in
our fourth generation of vessels.
We've got a double decker.
(04:46):
They keep getting bigger and bigger andbigger and more accessible, so, you know,
we've got quite a big fleet now and,operated by River City Ferries which
is, Sealink and so they're a listedcompany in Australia, they run maritime
services, all around the country for us.
I was just Just with Howard Collins,my friend down from Sydney, we were on
Tasmania and he was there inspecting sevennew ferries that they're getting built
in Tasmania that they'll bring back toSydney and run on their ferry service.
(05:09):
So, a lot of water, obviously, around theisland and a lot of great ferry services.
Tell us about, Ryan, the overalltransportation network in Brisbane.
Walk us through some ofwhat you've got here.
Brisbane's a city really,built on the back of the bus.
It's a city that, the city councilruns its own transport company.
Next year, 2025, will be our 100th yearin operation, and we own, and operate,
(05:32):
all, the vast majority of the city's,public transport fleet, whether that's
buses or CityCats, A lot of other cities,like Sydney and Melbourne, very much,
cities built on the back of rail, and raildoes the heavy lifting, but in Brisbane,
we've got 27 kilometers of busways,and buses, do the heavy lifting, so.
Dedicated busways.
Yeah, dedicated busways.
I saw them today.
Yeah.
Some are even grade separated, actually.
(05:52):
It's everything it looks like.
It's great.
Yeah.
Really high quality infrastructure.
and, it means we're a lot more similar toa city like, you know, Curitiba or Rio.
so a lot of Australians don't reallyunderstand that, that there are
bus rapid transit cities out therebecause they don't visit the places
where they are, but they are there.
You just have to look hard enough to find
them.
Yeah.
So you've got a lot ofbuses that you run yourself.
(06:13):
Yep.
Yep.
And then what else?
So the bus now it'sabout 80 million a year.
We have a city rail network which isquite expansive but only about a third
of the patronage of the bus network.
And historically the Council andthe State Government built these
networks in parallel to each other.
So there's not been that really greatmulti modal opportunity that you get
in some cities between bus and rail.
(06:34):
We're in the process of fixing that now.
We signed a landmark agreement withthe State Government earlier this year
to fix our bus to rail connectionsand really integrate all the modes
ahead of the Olympics in 2032.
So there's some big reforms happeningin the city over the next few years.
Well Councilman, we were, we jumpedoff one ferry and we got on a new one.
Tell me about this new one.
this is the, the next generation,generation 4 CityCat, so, this,
(06:57):
I think there's about 6 or 7 ofthese in service at the moment.
they are our latest offering.
They feature these wide panoramicwindows, space for people in wheelchairs,
previously couldn't see out the windowsbecause the windows were too high.
Okay.
But now they've got the bestseat in the house right here.
you've got USB charging throughout,better, more comfortable
seating and, wider, spaces.
(07:18):
We even put a bar in this one as well.
Oh, nice.
So we hire them out forfunctions and parties oh yeah.
Occasionally.
and it's got a, a double deck aswell, so you can go up on the top
and there's a, a, a sun shade.
'cause we are unfortunately, get quite alot of, UV light up here in Queensland.
so you can sit up there on thetop deck and watch the river go
by and the wind in your hair.
It's a really great.
way to spend the weekend.
(07:42):
We'll get right back to myinterview with Ryan Murphy, but
first I have a favor to ask of you.
Please take a moment toparticipate in our listener survey.
It'll only take a few minutes of yourtime, and your input is invaluable to
me for planning future episodes, and Iwant to get your feedback on the show.
So just go to transitunplugged.
com forward slash surveyto fill it out online.
(08:06):
The link will also be inthis podcast's show notes.
Thank you for your help.
I really appreciate it.
All right, let's jump backinto the conversation on buses.
You were telling me about that thebus network is the backbone of what
you've got going on here, but today Ivisited one of your amazing operations,
which you piloted, I think, fora month and soon when you get the
(08:27):
whole fleet in, you'll jump back in.
It's a BRT like service, but it's a Metro,and I'm telling you, Ryan, the vehicles
are some of the coolest things I've seen.
Yeah, it's a really cool vehicle, and whatit is is part of Brisbane Metro, which
is It's a bus rapid transit project, toreplace, several of our congested lines,
the triple one, the sixty six, with, alarge double articulated electric bus.
(08:51):
So, this is the Hess Light Tram 25,it's in service in a number of cities in
France and Switzerland, but we've takenthat bus that was existing, we've brought
it into Australian design rules, we'veupgraded it, we've put, six residential
homes worth of air conditioners onthe top because they don't need them
a lot in, France and Switzerland.
And we brought it here, to enable it toimprove the capacity of our busway system.
(09:13):
And, what we do is we, we basically, theconcept is we take the existing bus routes
that have buses that can carry about 76people on them, we replace them with, a
bus that can carry 170 people, and thenwe also, truncate large parts of our
network where the bus would previously runhalf or a quarter full all the way into
the CBD, we then truncate that at buswaystations to bring that resource back
(09:35):
into the network So, it's about Brisbanedoing what other bigger cities have done,
getting used to the two seat journeys.
That's what Brisbane Metro is about in ourcity and we also deal with a big problem
that we have in the core of our city,which is bus congestion and we take about
a third of those buses clogging up the CBDand redirect them into the suburbs, so it
solves a number of busway problems that we
(09:58):
have.
I saw that today actually.
I saw bus after busafter bus this morning.
I was at Anzac Square and I was havingcoffee and I, when I used to run
Baltimore, I saw the same problem.
I'd have, you know, 11 buses go byin one minute and it was congested
and so that, I get what you're doing.
You're going, this is thefeeder into the main network.
(10:19):
Yeah, I mean a lot of,a lot of cities do that.
I think it's a bit of a choicebetween, you know, what type of
light rail are they going to have.
Yeah.
In Brisbane, we did look at converting thebusway to light rail, but we have such a
big out of catchment, that we would haveto all terminate, I wouldn't be able to
use the busway at all, so there'd be somany thousands of introduced transfers.
(10:40):
This, this product sort of sitsbetween, buses at the high level
and then trams at the low level.
It's a, it's a tram or alight rail light capacity.
Improvement, but withoutanywhere near the cost.
So if you think about something like,your iPhone has wireless charging, well
this is like a tram without the wires.
So we're effectively going back tothe tram system that Brisbane had,
back in the, in the, in the forties.
(11:01):
and we're starting again with the, thelatest and greatest wireless technology.
So these vehicles all use flashcharging from panto graphs and, we
charge 'em at the end of every trip.
So they'll, they'll finish theirroute metro one or two, and they'll
flash charge for just six minutes.
Battery's fully topped up,and then off they'll go.
And you hope to open this service inyour 100th anniversary year of 2025.
(11:22):
Is that right?
Yeah, we do.
It's it's exciting.
we, we've had a lot of interest fromall around the world, about what we're
doing here to, to really take thatbus rapid transit product forwards.
And, a lot of cities, you know, in, inparticularly, you know, Vancouver has
been reaching out to us, Auckland, youknow, big cities with, busways, but they
want to know how to get the next levelof performance out of their busway.
(11:43):
Yeah.
And, we think this This product sitsat a great point in between that full
conversion to light rail and justrunning buses at a rapid frequency
because you get both capacity and youget a really high quality passenger
offering and people are seeking thatout more and more in public transport.
It's not just about where it goes,it's about whether you get there
in style and comfort and whetherthere's those amenities for you.
(12:05):
It feels and looks like you're on a brandnew light rail vehicle on the inside.
It's got that vibe.
Speaking of rail Let's talk about rail.
Brisbane is the capitalof Queensland, right?
You're That's right.
Yes.
And so, the State's heavily involved inthe rail service here, is that right?
Yeah, the state government runs the,the rail network, Queensland Rail, City
Rail, it goes by those sort of names,it's, it's actually a, a reasonably
(12:27):
good network across Brisbane, has greatcoverage, around the historical rail
lines, the issue has always been the,you know, the cost to serve and, and,
the patronage has never been particularlyimpressive to warrant further investment.
The city's going through a verysignificant investment in rail at
the moment with Cross River Rail,which is the second crossing of the
Brisbane River of the rail network.
So it links the Gold Coast line, Beanlealine, with a new line that runs under the
(12:53):
river and creates some new undergroundstations in the heart of Brisbane City.
That's wrapping up at the moment, Idon't think it'll commission probably
until 2026, but that'll add a lotmore capacity into the railway.
network as well so we can rampup that frequency and capacity
ahead of the Olympics in 2032.
Yeah, let's talk a little about that.
(13:13):
Tell us about the plans the city has anda little bit about the Olympics coming.
So we just did a show in LA.
Of course, they're the next one andthen you're the one right after that.
Yeah, Paris, LA and then Brisbane.
City, city no
one's ever heard of.
They will after this.
Well, we, we, we.
We are so humbled and so honouredto be standing, you know, with Paris
and LA in those Olympic cities andwe understand the task in front of
(13:39):
us to retrofit this city's, the smallcity's public transport system to a
system that has to host summer games.
I mean, that is a momentous undertakingand it really fills me with both,
you know, hope of what we canchange and what we can do in the
next few years and also dread of,you know, what if we get it wrong?
We've put in place a range of initiatives,the Lord Mayor a few months ago
(14:00):
released a document called the Raceto Gold, and it's all about these
transformative improvements we can maketo our city's public transport network
in the eight year run up to the Games.
And we're very much looking to bus rapidtransit as one of those things that
we know we can do that in eight years.
If we want to launch a light rail projectin Australia today, it's eight years just
to get the permitting done basically,so you know, it's similar in America.
(14:23):
Of But bus rapid transit can give ussome of those lighter touch solutions,
things like transitways and bus prioritywith these metro vehicles that we've
got now and we can deliver these stepchange improvements in capacity to
parts of the city where we, we know weactually need to increase the amount
of seats we have on public transportby 50 percent to meet the games demand.
(14:44):
So if you go to any city in the world andsay, I need you to increase the public
transport system by 50%, most plannerswould tell you, you're crazy, right?
It's going to enable somereally bold decision making.
We need to make decisions thatmight have been very difficult
with the politics of today.
There's an Olympics urgency and Brisbaneresidents really don't want to see the
city let itself down on the world stage.
(15:04):
So we're going to use that, we're goingto harness that over the next few years.
Tell me some about your backgroundand history and how you got
so interested and involved intransportation and in government.
I've been in this role forcoming up on five years.
And, prior to this I was in publicrelations for major infrastructure
and resource projects in Queensland.
things that people generally don't likein their backyard, like, copper mines
and, dams and, pipelines and thingslike that, so, I, I guess I got used
(15:28):
to having difficult conversations aboutthings that, that are necessary for
the economy but, that people might notnecessarily like in their backyard.
Now I get to do something thatis, so exciting because I'm
serving as a civil servant.
CityCouncil.
CityCouncil.
I've been at Council for 12 years now.
Oh wow.
I love serving my community, but thetransport role gives me the opportunity
to help our city kind of grow up and fixthe problems that I experienced as a user,
(15:51):
as a consumer of our city's transport.
I don't like that, why can't Isee a screen on this CityCat at
the moment telling me what my nextdestination is and how long it's
going to take me to get there.
These are the customer facing elementsthat so many transport systems are
getting right around the world.
I want to bring that here so that wecan also get that right and we've got so
many great companies that are looking tomake Brisbane home, looking to set up a
(16:13):
presence in the city since we were awardedthe Games, that I actually think this
is not going to be as hard as it looks.
It just takes will.
That's wonderful.
Let's talk about the nation of Australia.
Where does public transportation sit inthe list of priorities for this country
and where do you think it's going?
I don't think transport has been aparticular priority for Australian
(16:34):
politicians until recently.
I think successes like the Sydney Metroreally, I think, shown politicians of
both sides in Australia the potentialfor these game changing projects to
actually make a lasting differenceI mean, the amount of money that we
spend in this country, particularlyon highway and road transport, is
(16:57):
astronomical compared to what wewould spend on urban public transport.
and, there are real benefits to ESGand the sustainability of cities that
you can drive when you get publictransport systems functioning well.
I always make the argument, aroundthe need for public transport,
around the avoided cost of roadwidening and road infrastructure.
I mean, you look at L.
A. You know, they try to build theirway out of traffic congestion by adding
(17:20):
more lanes and it's, it's not worked.
But you improve the publictransport product, you can
avoid billions in road work.
So if you try and make that, I think,financial argument, because Australians
are very practical in that way, all ofa sudden you start to see people go,
Oh, actually, maybe we should have anadditional bus, or maybe the span of
hours should be a little bit longer.
but you have to reach that threshold ofquality that people will, will use it.
(17:42):
And, you know, I think we're very close.
That's great.
Ryan we wish you the very bestas you continue to help lead this
city's transportation future.
No, thanks for doingwhat you're doing, Paul.
It's very important and verymuch appreciated for all of us
out there that are trying tomake a difference in this field.
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode of Transit Unplugged
with our special guest, Ryan Murphy.
(18:05):
Hi, I'm Tris Hussey, editor of thepodcast, and coming up next week on
the show, we have Tom Drozt CEO of BenFranklin Transit in Washington State.
As Paul mentioned in the episode,we'd really appreciate your
help with our listener survey.
Just go to transitunplugged.com/survey,and just take a few minutes to
fill it out, it'll really helpus plan episodes and keep making
(18:27):
Transit Unplugged better and better.
You'll also find a link tothe survey in the show notes.
Transit Unplugged isbrought to you by Modaxo.
At Modaxo, we're passionate aboutmoving the world's people, and at
Transit Unplugged, we're passionateabout telling those stories.
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