Relieving traffic congestion (and stressful commutes)

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Location

Brisbane, Qld

Overview

Brisbane is growing. With the old ‘Big Country Town’ moniker long gone, today, the Queensland capital is a sprawling cosmopolitan city home to more than 2.3 million people. As the city expands, its public transport infrastructure needs to keep ahead of increasing demand. Relying heavily on buses, Brisbane’s busway network is a vital cog in the commuter mix. Eddie Chiu was engaged by Sinclair Knight Merz, as part of the Eastern Busway Alliance of Leighton Contractors, Sinclair Knight Merz, Maunsell and AECOM, to design two major stations to keep the city’s new Eastern Busway project moving.

Scope

Accommodating over 4000 buses a week, the Stones Corner and Langlands Park busway stations are part of the Queensland Government’s plan to relieve traffic congestion and reduce travel times. This $465 million project featuring two-way separated busway, connected via a combination of tunnels and bridge structures, required the creation of two new busway stations with elevated structures, pedestrian and cyclist facilities. Eddie was the lead architect on the project¹, calling on his expertise as an industrial designer to develop innovative outcomes through a multidisciplinary and human-focussed lens.

Impact

Opened in late August 2011, the Eastern Busway began delivering vastly improved connection services for commuters immediately. The Stones Corner station saw 2238 buses a week, and the Langlands Park station 1752 buses. We applied some clever design touches too — like ensuring the 25,000 customers who use the facilities every day aren’t impacted by maintenance, and cutting ongoing costs to lighting and CCTV repairs by eliminating the need for scaffolding and cherry pickers. In the end, the stations we created enhanced a safe, seamless and comfortable passenger experience.

1. Eddie Chiu was engaged by Sinclair Knight Merz.