August 26, 2026 — 5:00amMore people are catching buses in Brisbane since 50¢ fares, a timetable shake-up and two new Metro vehicles – but the state government insists they are not more crowded.Bus trips in south-east Queensland hit a high of 13.5 million in March, finally roaring well past the pre-COVID monthly norm of 10 to 11 million in 2018 and 2019.Public transport use was initially slow to recover from the pandemic as working from home remained entrenched, despite the region’s population exploding.Millions more people are using the bus this year, but the government says crowding is not a problem.Catherine StrohfeldtBut flat 50¢ fares – introduced by Labor in an initial six-month trial from August 2024 – started to turn the tide.Instead, TMR provided the percentage of seated capacity used, averaged stop-by-stop by week across SEQ buses.“Average occupancy, expressed as a percentage of seated capacity used, provides a more reliable measure, allowing us to monitor overall capacity trends across the network,” notes provided with the data said.A TMR spokesman said 50¢ fares made travelling by train, bus or ferry in Brisbane more accessible and affordable.“There is capacity on services right across south-east Queensland’s public transport network,” he said.“Bus occupancy has been stable since mid-2025, with major commuter routes typically carrying around 25 to 40 per cent of seated capacity during the morning peak inbound services and afternoon peak outbound services.”The top 20 busiest routes in SEQ were a mix of services leaving from major shopping centres, student routes, and others travelling to the inner-city. They were spread across the south, north, west, bayside and Gold Coast.TMR excluded inner-city high-frequency services, such as the 60 and 61 Gliders, from its analysis of major routes to “better isolate the impact of peak inbound and outbound demand on network capacity”.More:Public TransportFor subscribersPublic transportBrisbaneFrom our partners