The Club’s General Manager of Advocacy, Joshua Cooney, said RACQ regularly heard from members about the pressures of making ends meet so it was pleasing to see relief extend to motorists and commuters more broadly. 

“Fifty cent fares, Airtain tickets halved, cuts to rego and freezes on government charges like driver licence fees will all help, albeit temporarily, because the cost of transport is hurting a lot of people right now.”

Mr Cooney also welcomed a $5.3 billion boost over four years to transport infrastructure.

“We see the Government rightly investing in rail, particularly for the Gold Coast and Logan faster rail, and the direct Sunshine Coast rail line,” he said. 

“We need better public transport to give motorists genuine alternatives and enable that mode shift for Queensland to have any hope of easing congestion.

“But while rail is a winner, it’s disappointing that buses make up just 1.1% of the transport infrastructure budget ($437 million).

“RACQ will continue to call out the lack of long-term strategic transport planning.

“Where’s the plan to cater for an extra 2 million people living in the south east in the next two decades? We need to see how projects and services will work together as part of a regional ecosystem of infrastructure, rather than an individual focus on new big-ticket projects.”

Mr Cooney said while the Club acknowledged $318 million to advance the Gympie Road Bypass Tunnel with design work, there were no reports or modelling released to demonstrate it was a viable, effective project.

“There’s a lack of information and it’s still not clear how the tunnel will benefit transport on the northside,” Mr Cooney said.

“This tunnel should be just one part of a holistic transport plan but once again there’s a focus on individual projects, not strategic, holistic long-term planning.”

While funding for the Bruce Highway will increase yearly from $200 million to $250 million from 2027, RACQ is concerned there may be a shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars when the Federal Government cuts its funding split with the State from 80:20 to 50:50 for new projects.