What led you to work at Translink?
My Dad, who worked for the Harbours and Marine Division of Queensland Transport, encouraged me to get my first job with the Port of Brisbane, before I joined Queensland Transport in the early 1990s.
After this experience, I worked as an Urban Planner and Infrastructure Manager with the City of Gold Coast before I joined the Translink family. What does your work at Translink look like?
This year, I'm helping out as the secretariat for the Qld Bus Safety Forum and assisting with Passenger Strategy activities including Fare Path and Creating Better Connections.
In my permanent position, I manage urban and school bus service contracts across the northside of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.
Outside of Translink, you play the viola. What prompted you to take it up?
There was a violinist who came to play to my grade one class.
I think it was the first time I'd seen a violin played up close and I wanted to play. My parents made me practice the recorder until year four until I finally persuaded them to get my first violin.
My high school only had a brass band, so I went across the road to join the nuns in their orchestra.
While studying science and engineering at university, I changed to the viola because there was less competition for a chair and since then, I've continued to play and I'm now part of the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra.
What do you think public transport will look like in 2030, and what role do you think Translink will have?
By 2030, I hope we are no longer buying any diesel buses. In 2030, I think that Queensland Bus Companies will be providing a richer mix of vehicles, including smaller buses, vans and taxis.
I hope Queensland bus companies are encouraged to become more engaged in innovation of service design, value-adding through mobility as a service, on-demand, community transport and leading more direct consultation with local communities.
Translink’s traditional roles may be increasingly shared in collaboration with both global platforms and local providers of mobility.
Collaboration through Translink’s integrated transport hub to support real-time decision making will have an increased role to re-design networks in response to congestion and events on the network, on its way to becoming the hub of our network communicating with autonomous private and passenger vehicles.
