Brisbane Times and BDA: The Committee for Brisbane (BDAC4B) Liveability Survey has now closed, but more than 2200 residents completed the survey to tell us what they love and loathe about Brisbane.

When it came to rating Brisbane’s public transport 434 residents believed it was “dire” while a further 812 thought it “needs improvement”.

Just 73 survey respondents rated the city’s public transport system as “exceptional” while 429 considered it as “good” and 497 rated it “okay”.

Residents also rated poorly the ease of driving and parking, with about 47 per cent of respondents saying it was “dire” or “needs improvement” while just 25 per cent believed it was “exceptional” or “good”.

BDAC4B vice-president Mike Gillen said Brisbane’s public transport was clunky and expensive.

“We are one of the most expensive city systems in the world and coverage and intermodal change is not as comprehensive as other cities of similar size,” Mr Gillen said.

“Once you experience travel around Sydney or Melbourne, let alone any major overseas city, there is a realisation that our overladen surface bus system and radial road network isn’t as efficient or convenient as it should be.”

A question about the change to Brisbane's quality of life over the past five years divided respondents almost equally into thirds.

The group of people which believed Brisbane’s quality of life had declined over the past five years made up about 39 per cent of respondents while about 32 per cent believed it had improved.

The remaining 28.5 per cent said the quality of life in Brisbane had stayed the same over the past five years.

Mr Gillen said he believed the divided response was because of different living expectations and experiences within Brisbane.

The most favourable responses were received about Brisbane being a safe place to live and having access to healthcare.

When rating Brisbane as a safe place to live 672 residents said it was “exceptional” and a further 1183 said it was “good”, just four people rated it “dire”.

Similarly, 505 residents said Brisbane’s access to healthcare was “exceptional”, 1152 said “good” and 27 believed it was “dire”.

Mr Gillen said a majority of Brisbane suburbs were considered neighbourhoods this social and suburban cohesion most likely helped with a perception of safety.

“Perhaps Brisbane’s liveability contributes to a sense of safety,” he said.

The survey also attracted thousands of written responses about what people liked, disliked and wanted in Brisbane.

The weather was the clear winner for what people liked while traffic and public transport topped the list of what people liked the least about the river city.

When respondents were asked to list a feature of another city they would like to see in Brisbane there was a big push for trams, lights rail and overall better public transport.

Mr Gillen said he found it difficult to believe Brisbane despite Brisbane’s growth in the past 30 years there was no true mass transit system of public transport with multiple systems and multiple lines.

“The lack of heavy and light rail solutions is a glaring error in recent transport planning documents.

“The success of light rail on the Gold Coast is a sure sign that this mode of transport is an appropriate urban response to mobility in a growing city, it’s time Brisbane seriously considered it.”

The Liveability Survey results and the planning implications will be further explored with lord mayor Graham Quirk during his State of the City address at a BDAC4B event on Tuesday.