Daily life · 27 May 2026 · 6 min read
Getting around Brisbane — trains, busways, ferries and two cars
Cross River Rail, Brisbane Metro, the 50-cent fare and why most families here still run two cars.
The network is excellent — along its lines
Brisbane runs on three spines: the suburban rail network, the busways, and the CityCat and ferry services along the river. If your home and your work both sit near one of them, your commute will be shorter and cheaper than almost anywhere else in the country, especially since the flat 50-cent fare.
Step a few kilometres off those spines and frequency drops away quickly. This is the single most common mistake interstate buyers make: assuming a suburb ten kilometres out has Melbourne-style service. Check the actual timetable for the stop nearest the house, at the time you would actually travel.
Cross River Rail and Brisbane Metro
Cross River Rail adds a second river crossing and new inner-city stations, which lifts capacity across the whole rail network rather than just the line it sits on. Brisbane Metro runs high-capacity electric vehicles along the busways. Together they are the biggest change to how Brisbane moves in decades.
For anyone choosing a suburb now, the practical read is simple: suburbs on lines that gain capacity or a new station tend to hold value and get easier to live in. Suburbs that depend on a single congested arterial do not.
Assume two cars until you prove otherwise
In the inner ring — New Farm, West End, Paddington, Teneriffe, Bulimba — one car or none is realistic. Everywhere else, and especially with school-age children and weekend sport, two cars is the norm. Budget for it: registration, insurance, fuel and a second parking space all land in your monthly cost.