Route 171 through Mount Gravatt recorded a 115 per cent jump in passengers in the first seven months after Brisbane’s mid-2025 bus network changes took effect, making it one of the strongest-performing routes in the city.
The result came as Brisbane’s redesigned bus network recorded strong patronage growth across the city.
A city-wide transformation with local impact
The 171’s gains were part of a broader network redesign that has driven significant ridership growth across Brisbane. Brisbane reported more than 51.2 million bus and Metro trips in the first seven months following the mid-2025 overhaul, which is up 10 per cent on the same period the previous year. Across a longer timeframe, Brisbane bus trips have risen 27 per cent since the beginning of 2024.
BCC puts the impact in road terms too, estimating the ridership growth represents the equivalent of 3.9 million fewer private car trips, calculated on an average of 1.2 people per vehicle.
Cr Adrian Schrinner pointed to the flow-on benefits for all road users, saying that every additional bus or Metro passenger meant one fewer car in peak-hour traffic, resulting in less congestion, safer roads and shorter travel times for everyone.
Other routes posting strong numbers
Route 171 wasn’t the only route to benefit from the redesign. Several others recorded substantial patronage increases across the network.
The 107, realigned to run all day between Yeerongpilly and the city via Boggo Road busway station and South Bank, led the network with a 190 per cent increase. The 205 from Carindale Heights, shifted from a peak-only to an all-day service, was up 97 per cent. The 131 from Parkinson and the 185 from Upper Mount Gravatt — both products of route mergers — each grew by 64 per cent. The 116, extended to Upper Mount Gravatt, recorded a 47 per cent rise.
A bumpier ride for some
The strong numbers have not been felt equally across all areas. Some residents say the network changes have made getting around harder, not easier, for those without a car.
One Moorooka resident noted that the 116, despite being extended to Upper Mount Gravatt, only runs every 30 minutes during peak hour and hourly on Saturdays, with the last city-bound service at 7pm and no Sunday timetable at all. They said residents who don’t drive had been left worse off by the changes, and that the 125 and 110 routes were also not much better, not running late enough.
Read: Brisbane Metro Depot in Rochedale to Provide New Eco-Friendly Transport
Broader shifts driving the change
The network overhaul was one of several significant public transport changes rolled out across the past two years. The state Labor government introduced 50-cent fares in August 2024. Brisbane’s first Metro service became permanent in January 2025. The new bus network launched in mid-2025, followed by the opening of the Adelaide Street tunnel in September 2025.
Brisbane’s bus network carries around 80 million passengers annually and is responsible for more than two-thirds of the city’s public transport trips.
Published 6-March-2026
