A major review of the city's bus network proposes removing two routes and combining 13 others ahead of the $1.2 billion Brisbane Metro mass transit system launch in 2024.
The proposal would also see three new routes added to the network.
Brisbane City Councillor and transport spokesperson Ryan Murphy said the city's population would increase by 25 per cent by 2041 and the bus network needed to keep up.
"Brisbane's new bus network redesigns services to connect customers to the two high-frequency Metro lines between Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street, and the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and the University of Queensland," he said.
"There is also significant scope to expand the Metro further into Brisbane's north and east through investment into the dedicated bus network."
The council began the review last year with the state transport department's TransLink agency, and launched community consultation in July about how residents used the bus network.
Combined, split, or scrapped
The draft review, released on Monday, proposed combining or splitting a number of suburban bus routes.
"At peak times there were currently more than 385 buses jamming up the Cultural Centre station, which is a result of our current over-reliance on direct bus journeys from the suburbs to the CBD," Cr Murphy said.
"As part of the changes, a number of routes will be combined to simplify the network and some routes with extremely low patronage will be removed.
"This allows us to make better use of our resources to give high frequency services to more streets, introduce new routes and deliver more reliable services from the suburbs to the city."
Twelve suburban routes will be redesigned to connect with the Metro's high-frequency, high-capacity stations between Eight Mile Plains on the south side of Brisbane River and the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital on the north side.
Bus patronage has not returned to pre-COVID levels but remained at about 70 per cent of 2019 levels, as people continue to prefer car transport and work from home.
But the council predicts the south-eastern busway's capacity will increase by 30.4 million passengers annually by 2031, including 160,000 additional trips a year.
The draft network proposal would see the two Brisbane Metro lines operate as the "core" of a hybrid network, with suburban routes connecting to the major busway stations so commuters could change onto a turn-up-and-go service.
The finer details
It would also see Brisbane Metro services replace bus routes 111, 160, and 66.
Route 66 is the busiest in the city, connecting the University of Queensland to Queensland University of Technology Kelvin Grove campus and the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.
Route 145, which connects Browns Plains with Griffith University's Nathan campus, and route P151 between Calamvale and the CBD, would be removed due to low patronage.
Other bus lines would be combined under the proposal, while a handful of north side routes, including routes 375 and 379 connecting Stafford to the CBD and western suburbs, would be split.
In the CBD, Cultural Centre station would no longer be used as the network's high-frequency hub. Those high-frequency services would instead be redistributed between Roma Street, King George Square, Queen Street and Cultural Centre stations.
More buses would also travel Captain Cook bridge to reduce the congestion experienced on Victoria Bridge during peak hours.
Future plans for the network include Metro expansions to Chermside, Carindale, Springwood and Brisbane Airport.
Cr Murphy said residents were urged to provide feedback to the proposed changes on the council's website.
The review is the most comprehensive since a controversial overhaul of the Brisbane bus network in 2013 that faced criticism at the time.
