Eastern Busway

To manage rapid population growth and increasing traffic demands in Brisbane's eastern corridor, the Queensland Government, through TransLink, is planning for an Eastern Busway, linking Buranda to Capalaba. Katestone Environmental was commissioned to conduct the air quality impact study of the Eastern Busway.

“Katestone Environmental was commissioned to conduct the air quality impact study of the Eastern Busway.”

The busway will separate buses from general traffic to offer congestion-free travel on fast, frequent and reliable services.

The Eastern Busway is designed to link the South East Busway at Buranda with Capalaba. In general, the Eastern Busway will closely follow Old Cleveland Road.

The air quality assessment study considered the following questions:

• How is the air quality likely to change in close proximity to the Eastern Busway?
• Is the project likely to achieve compliance with air quality goals?

Ground-level concentrations of the key air pollutants associated with bus emissions were estimated using dispersion modelling. These pollutants included: nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter (as PM10, PM2.5 and ultra-fine particles). Estimates of a range of air toxics such as benzene and 1,3-butadiene, two volatile organic compounds were also estimated.

Katestone Environmental also quantified the change in greenhouse gas emissions that are likely to be associated with the development. This study found that the greenhouse gas emissions were likely to be reduced by up to 25% as a results of the busway.

Katestone Environmental provided support and information at community forums that were held as part of the consultation phase of the project.

More information about the Eastern Busway can be found at http://www.translink.com.au/easternbusway

Contour plot showing the reduction in concentration of air pollutants due to improvements in bus fleet composition. The busway is shown in brown.