So the Metro should be promoted “for what it is,rapid buses”.

Sydney’s Metro is a rail network,Melbourne’s Metro is largely a rail network,and “metro” is a naming convention familiar to users of inner-city rail transportin capitals and other large cities around the world.

Former Brisbane lord mayor Campbell Newman used the name “Brisbane metro” in 2011 when he proposedan underground inner-city rail network and scrapping the original Cross River Rail.

But Dow said the service now being built was “not a Metro”.

“It confuses people. People are going to come to Brisbane and ask:‘Where is the Brisbane Metro? Hold on? There isn’t one? It’s buses?’”

He conceded the name “Metro” was easier to say and remember than “bi-articulated buses”,but his group believed it had come up with a better alternative:Busway Electric Rapid Transit,or BERT.

“That name was developed with public feedback. We think the name BERT is an attractive name.

“ It can play on the[Thomas the Tank Engine character] Bertie Bus idea. Catch the Bertie into town.”

Dow said it was likely Brisbane would one day develop a rail metro as rail services expanded.

“This will be the true Brisbane Metro,” he said.

“It is time to drop the nonsensical ‘Brisbane Metro’ spin,and promote the very successful BERT that Brisbane offers.”

A spokesman for Brisbane City Council on Monday slammed the brakes on the suggestion of a new name.

“There’s no plan to rename the Brisbane Metro,” he said.