Brisbane Explorer

[Roderick Smith]

Roderick.

April 21 2017 Brisbane Explorer bus leaves the city after more than two years .
The red double-decker Brisbane Explorer bus will no longer be spotted making its way through the streets of Brisbane as the service has made the tough decision to stop operation.
The two buses launched in November 2014 and for more than two years travelled a 19-stop route through a Brisbane and Mount Coot-tha tour.
The Brisbane Explorer bus stopped operating in April 2017. Photo: Brisbane City Explorer Instagram .
A Big Bus Tours spokeswoman would not elaborate on the reasoning behind their closure, but said it was a "tough business decision".
"The tough business decision to cease the current operation was made effective on the 11th April, 2017, and the iconic touring buses will be reassigned to increase capacity on another Australian operation," the spokeswoman said.
"Big Bus Brisbane Explorer has been proud to showcase Brisbane City and Mount Coot-tha with our hop-on, hop-off tourist bus service since November 2014.
"It has been a pleasure working in Brisbane. We hope to be able to once again work with the fantastic team at Brisbane Council, Brisbane Marketing and the Visitor Information Centres."
The company also operates tours in Sydney, Bondi Beach, Darwin, Hobart, Blue Mountains and Perth.
During its time of operation in Brisbane the service received mixed reviews on travel review site Trip Advisor.
With an overall rating of three-and-a-half out of five, based on 72 reviews, the reviews ranged from remarks of "not up to scratch" and "we were disappointed" to "fabulous service" and "very informative".
The buses were introduced as a replacement to Brisbane City Council's CitySights bus tour, that had run for 25 years.
Brisbane City Council Acting Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the council did not subsidise the commercial service but offered their support to the service through dedicated bus stops in the city and suburbs.
"Unlike other cities, the majority of our attractions are located within walking distance, or by using public transport including our iconic CityCats and CityCycles," he said.
Cr Schrinner said the council was looking at developing more paid tourism experiences to add to what is on offer for residents and visitors.
"Council is currently seeking detailed proposals to build and operate a zipline at Mt Coot-tha, which will operate as a paid eco-adventure experience." he said.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensl ... vosmv.html

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[LB608]

Thats old news as well the buses have been back in Sydney for two weeks or more

[Fleet Lists]

It had been covered in this post on 9th April http://www.busaustralia.com/forum/viewt ... 5#p1003605 but not as much detail as has been provided here.

[moreton]

The Bus Tour industry is only seasonal, unfortunately trying to run 2/3 buses 12 trips a day 7 days a week and a coaster up and back to Mt Coot-tha was never going to cut it. The deckers only had a very limited route due to height restrictions in some areas of the city. Traffic snarls most days of the week were only adding to the woes. Brisbane has lots of passenger ships calling into port 3/4 per week and most tours are booked and pick-ups/drop- offs directly to and from the vessels take quite a bit of custom from the City Tours. The City has so many road closures hold up at construction sites for the next 10 years that tourists have better things to do than sit in a bus and sunbake while cranes lift tilt slabs overhead. The local Uber is undercutting Taxi service and even cheaper than a bus if you have 2/3 passengers so people can get a better cheaper alternative than a bus. Ticket resellers take a big chunk out of fares also. They have taken out all the stops and lexens so no replacement will be coming anytime soon. The smaller tour operators,Uber, Cabs have beaten the Bigger Operators this time around. Meeting passengers at the ships is winning the passengers for now. Moreton