BUSES without airconditioning are putting the lives of passengers and drivers at risk, the Queensland Transport Workers Union says.

Union secretary Hughie Williams said bus users were being forced to sweat it out in buses "that are 20 years behind the times".

"Here we are at a time when we are trying to get more people on buses but who is going to ride one when it’s so hot?" he said.

"From the passengers’ point of view it’s an uncomfortable ride and from the driver’s point of view, he has a lot of responsibility and shouldn’t be sitting there sweating it out."

Several calls to Sunbus Cairns by The Weekend Post yesterday went unanswered but passengers confirmed some of the buses, dubbed "hot boxes", were stifling in yesterday’s 32C heat, with 70 per cent humidity.

Sunbus is the operating entity of Transit Australia, one of Queensland's largest urban bus operators, with more than 500 employees across the state.

"A majority of the buses are not airconditioned and some of the ones that are, you can’t feel it anyway," Yorkeys Knob resident and frequent bus user Glenda Bolger said.

"Some people don’t have a choice and have to use the buses but we shouldn’t be punished by being forced to sit in the stifling heat."

Mr Williams said not having airconditioning on the buses was also sending the wrong message to tourists visiting the Far North.

"They get off the buses thinking what kind of hick town is this that they don’t even have airconditioned buses," he said.

He said all Brisbane buses were cooled.

Another bus user, waiting for a bus on Sheridan St, said she too was worried about the intense heat on some buses.

Another passenger said it was "awful" to get off the bus sweaty but driver safety was also a worrying issue.

Share this article