Brisbane’s transport is better than its reputation and patchier than a European city’s. The spines — rail, busway and river — are good. Between them it thins out fast. Choose your suburb with that in mind and you may not need a second car.
The network, in four parts
The city is also unusually good for cycling along the river: the bikeways, the Goodwill Bridge and the Riverwalk make a working commuting network, at least outside the summer months when arriving dry becomes ambitious.
Driving here
Australians drive on the left. Brisbane is easy to drive by capital-city standards — no grid, plenty of river crossings, and traffic that would make a Sydneysider laugh — but it does have toll roads and tunnels, and the airport link is one of them, so a toll account is worth setting up early. Licence transfer and buying a car work the same across the country and live in Living in Australia.
Two local notes. Storm season brings flash flooding on low crossings: never drive into water, and learn which route out of your suburb stays open. And parking at the inner-city hospital campuses is tight — ask about staff parking at interview rather than assuming.
Distances that matter
| From the CBD to… | Roughly | How |
|---|---|---|
| The inner ring (New Farm, West End, Paddington) | 5–15 min | Bus, ferry, bike |
| Brisbane Airport | ~20 min | Airtrain or toll road |
| Bayside (Wynnum, Manly) | ~30 min | Rail |
| Ipswich | ~40 min | Rail |
| Gold Coast | ~1 hr | Rail then light rail, or drive |
| Sunshine Coast | ~1 hr 15 | Drive; rail to Nambour |
| Scenic Rim / hinterland | 1–1.5 hrs | Drive |
| Sydney | ~90 min | Fly |
Pick a home on a rail line, a busway or a ferry terminal and Brisbane works without a daily drive. Pick one between the spines and you will own two cars within six months. That single decision matters more here than in any other Australian capital.