Transport and mobility: Brisbane 2032 to reimagine Australia’s fastest-growing capital city
The Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games will redefine South East Queensland, supercharging transport connectivity across the region. Roger Jeffries, transport decarbonisation and mobility leader for Australia and New Zealand, says the Games’ momentum will accelerate programs and projects that enhance transport infrastructure, services, policies, and funding while furthering the state’s decarbonisation commitments.
The South-East Queensland region is experiencing a population boom, and Brisbane is the fastest-growing city in Australia[1]. The Games are the stimulus to bring forward planned infrastructure, delivering targeted improvements to regional public transport while accelerating the energy transition. This investment in mass transit connections, zero-emission buses, walking, cycling and micro-mobility facilities will be the Games legacy for a better-connected South East Queensland region for generations.
The International Olympic Committee notes that carbon emissions from the movement of people and goods represent a key environmental impact[2]. Brisbane 2032 will be the first carbon-positive Games, meaning it will remove more emissions than it produces. This aligns with Queensland’s Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy and Queensland Transport Strategy, which aim to realise air quality, health, sustainability, accessibility, resiliency, and productivity goals.
Understanding the transit landscape
To deliver a carbon-positive Games, an innovative and effective Transport and Mobility Strategy is needed to ensure every investment choice, planning decision and design outcome considers carbon impact and ongoing community value far beyond 2032.
“In Brisbane, targeted investment in improvements to active transport facilities will support zero-carbon mobility at a local level,” says Carla Schnitzerling, AECOM’s Technical Director – Transport Planning, Queensland. “This includes access to Games venues with improvements to first and last-mile connections between a transport node and venue to further encourage an uptake of public transport.”
Host cities have long relied on strategic rail connections as a centrepiece of mobility, offering efficient mass transit. Brisbane 2032 will be held across Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, and the rail network will be critical to intra-regional connections. Significant work is underway to progress the planning and delivery of rail network enhancements and Brisbane City Council has made ambitious first steps to envisioning what a transport and mobility strategy could look like for Brisbane 2032, with the extension of the safe and accessible Brisbane Metro network.
Buses will also continue to play a significant role for key cities in the South East Queensland region. The ambition is to deliver a significant zero-emission bus fleet and associated depot and charging infrastructure, and the development and delivery strategy for zero-emission buses needs particular focus to be Games-ready. This is a necessary and critical step to enable athlete and spectator mobility while reducing the Games’ carbon footprint. It will create a legacy of assets, increasing mobility for communities and reducing environmental impact. However, the pathway to transition to an electrified fleet and infrastructure is complex, and competing demands for resources across jurisdictions with other states’ similar priorities, add to the complexity.
The challenge of improving the transit network is heightened by the critical need to simultaneously address climate change through decarbonisation. This is achievable but relies on accelerated decision-making, delivery, and prioritising investment to create a legacy Queenslanders can be proud of, well beyond any sporting success.
With such ambitious targets and a notable infrastructure program to deliver over the next eight years, what will underpin Brisbane’s success?
The Games Venue and Legacy Delivery Authority will steer the Brisbane 2032 Transport and Mobility Strategy to deliver accessible and sustainable travel choices, accelerating travel options that will serve the region’s communities before, during and following the Games. The development of this strategy needs to be accelerated to move planning into delivery with a focus on:
- Delivering travel options for all – ensuring viable alternatives to private car travel
- Increasing travel by public transport and active transport
- Improving access to opportunity (Jobs, Education, Healthcare, Sport + Leisure)
The current public transport system can only serve 50% of projected trips to Games venues[3], so prioritisation of investment is needed to deliver the target of 90% of journeys by public transport and active transport to venues[4], which will include:
- Mass transit – Rail (Cross River Rail, Direct Sunshine Coast, Logan to Gold Coast Faster Rail) and BRT/Bus (Brisbane Metro, Zero Emission Buses) and Electric Ferries;
- Walking, cycling and micromobility – Improvements to dedicated facilities for walking, cycling and micromobility, including for first and last mile connections; and
- Innovation and technology – Advanced Air Mobility, Demand Responsive Transport / On-Demand Transport; Intelligent Transport Systems; Mobility as a Service; Smart Ticketing; Integrated Information and Wayfinding.
South East Queensland is on the cusp of a transformative era in transportation and mobility. The Brisbane 2032 Transport and Mobility Strategy is the first piece of the puzzle, priming the state to set a new standard of universal, inclusive and accessible design. Government, industry and the public will all be key to move strategy into action, working together to deliver multiple complex multidisciplinary projects simultaneously.
Learn more about how AECOM is shaping Brisbane 2032 into a lasting legacy here.
Footnotes:
[1] Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023, Data by region, accessed 13 August 2024, abs.gov.au/databyregion
[2] According to https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/IOC/What-We-Do/celebrate-olympic-games/Sustainability/sustainability-essentials/IOC-Sustain-Essentials_v7.pdf
[3] Department of the Premier and Cabinet, 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Value Proposition Assessment, 2019, pp. 9
[4] https://q2032.au/big-picture/sustainability