About a month ago I posted about the completely nonsensical results that the new MAXX website was giving to me when trying to make what seemed to be relatively obvious and simple journeys. On that occasion, somehow one of the suggested options included three different Link Bus trips for a simple “Herne Bay to CBD” trip.
But that’s nothing compared to the bizarreness of trying to get MAXX to tell you how to get from Hauraki, near Takapuna, to Ponsonby. Now I realise that’s a somewhat unusual trip, but not impossible to come up with an option would would think. Here’s the approximate trip we’re looking at here:
A pretty obvious couple of options would be a walk to Akoranga Station and then a 962 bus to Ponsonby or a bus into the city and then a Link Bus or 005 up to Ponsonby (or a walk) from Victoria Park.
But is that what we get, if we give the relatively easy request of “arrive before 9am”. Nope. This is what we get instead as the number one option:
Yes that’s right, the number one suggested option includes riding a school bus, then another bus in the wrong direction to not the nearest busway station, but the one further north, then a Northern Express bus into town and then a bus from the CBD up to Ponsonby. What on earth????
Now I would show a map of how stupid this suggestion is, but MAXX’s mapping system shows this when I click on maps:
Still having technical issues with the maps? Come on.
Oddly enough, none of the options suggested by MAXX include the idea of someone walking to the Akoranga Busway Station, but rather suggest catching buses up to Smales Farm Station. What’s up with that? Is Akoranga Busway Station really completely inaccessible to pedestrians? (I wouldn’t be that surprised actually).
I generally don’t use the Journey Planner, instead relying on the uploaded timetables on MAXX’s website. This post might help explain why.
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… but at least the cost is below $10, right?
Hi Mr Jarbury.
I found these issues a few months ago also. I think actually it use to be better. The idea is nice but they really need to look at their software.
I am lucky as I know what bus’s to catch, but for people visiting this could be embarrassing.
It’s got so bad, it reminds me of a bad experience when i tried out one of the old Navman GPS units (cost $1000) and it sent me down a one way road to nowhere in the middle of nowhere
Yeah I really do think that Journey Planner has got worse recently.
Part of the problem is that all modes (including school buses) are selected by default and this is not obvious from the main screen. This makes it look nice and simple – a case of form over function? I prefer Metlink Wellington’s approach to the journey planner – all options are available straight from the main page (and all modes EXCEPT school buses is the default setting).
Maps on the MAXX journey planner worked for me but looked a bit old fashioned – IMO they should use Google Maps like Metlink do.
Another part of the problem is the route structure, particularly the lack of a proper feeder service to Akoranga and the assumption that everyone wants to go to the city (making it unecessarily difficult to go elsewhere).
As for walking to Akoranga Bus Station, it’s a fair way – about 1.6km. Probably alright on a nice day if you’re not in a hurry but a tad miserable if wet …
The actual trip was to test whether somewhere around there is feasible as a place to live.
I agree that integrating the MAXX website with Google Maps needs to happen. The current mapping system (when it works) is from around 2001 I think. Pretty disgraceful it’s taken this long to upgrade.
Akoranga Bus Station is an oddity at the moment. A flash looking bus station surrounded by… uhhh… nothing. Hopefully in the future we might see a real enclave of apartment buildings or office blocks around it perhaps.
I heard the other day that there is apparently a covenant on the land at Smales Farm preventing high density development, I wonder if Akoranga is similar?
I would be somewhat surprised about Smales Farm, considering there are a number of large office blocks on that land already. There may be something in the zoning regulations that apply to the Smales Farm site that prevent residential development, but those rules generally have some flexibility in them.
I think that contaminated/unstable land around Akoranga might be a bigger problem. I think that the Golf Driving range and the reserve near Rosmini College is an old landfill.
The person who told me about Smales farm said that Mr Smales didn’t want to sell his land so held out for as long as possible. When he sold it he made sure it was added to the title something along the lines that the land couldn’t be used for residential development and only very limited commercial development so based on this the development there is the most that is allowed. Apparently this was put on just to spite the council.
Akoranga being unstable land makes sense
The MAXX website is a shocker, the journey planner is unusable, the guides are hidden in some maze of links (and they are what you need to figure out what route you can use before then looking up the individual timetable), the screens of information quite often require a scroll down…
It is not that hard, I’ve used Wellington’s, Christchurch’s (I think) and Brisbane’s with no troubles…
I found it amusing this morning in the Herald that Sharon Hunter was suggesting to international visitors to use the Maxx site to assess how far out a rental property for the World Cup really is.
Perhaps if the site is sorted first then it may be a useful tool then.
Agree with Jenny.
Since the site redesign, journey planner is harder to use (and new main MAXX page “Where do you want to go” planner does not have “when” option !), journey planner map functionality seems to be broken more often than before, and it is harder to find the route maps / guides.
Journey planner results are often very poorly formatted in IE6 (which is still defualt browser at some corporates) – but this may also have been the case previously.
I found the Sydney site much easier to use when I was there for a week last year and used only buses and trains.
A quick google sightseeing trip reveals that the Akoranga bus station came complete with bright new, eye watering and sunglass inducing concrete footpaths along both Fred Thomas Drive and Esmonde Road.
I tried the same trip on Google Transit here – makes much more sense and is much easier to understand, although it happens to match Option 2 in the Journey Planner, with a stroll through Victoria Park.
It’s nice to drag the “A” and “B” markers to drop them closer to where you are and where you want to go, and have the directions automatically update.
They really should give up on the Journey Planner and go with the Google Transit data, updating it with fare information. It is a whole generation ahead.
MAXX drives me absolutely crazy!
It barely ever loads. Every morning I try to check it but it has only loaded for me a handful of times. I just waltz up to the bus stop and HOPE that I’m there at a decent time because I can never find out!
Rawr.
The site doesn’t work half the time; especially at busy times. The government probably gives the company a kickback on the petrol tax profits to make sure the whole public transport thing never really catches on in NZ.
Imagine what it’s like for a newcomer to Auckland, who doesn’t know the geography – it’s been practically impossible for me to get any sensible journey through the MAXX site from Glenfield to Symonds St – I am, currently, experimenting with different routes – with very mixed results. I may not know where I am particularly well, but I do know that doubling back on myself, or a journey of 1.5 hrs is complete nonsense!!
Coming from Wellington and the logical routes there, I am simply reduced to tears here!!!
Hi Sandra
I hope Maxx didn’t tell you to walk.
You could get the 891X it goes down Wairau Road and gets on the Busway at Smales Farm, going directly to town then up Symonds Street. Some people catch this by parking near bus stops along Wairau Road.
Otherwise you could bus to Smales Farm Station or drive to Sunnynook or Constellation (Park and Ride) then take the 881 which goes through every busway station.
If you are a university student you can also get a substancial discount making both these option pretty cheap. Otherwise look into getting a weekly Northern Pass or Hop card to get discounts.
Hope this helps,
Regarding Smales Farm, there is a lot of future development planned – the large car parks in front of TelstraClear and next to the Air New Zealand building are only temporary and the intention is to build on them. I worked at TelstraClear for a while and was amused by the consternation on somes peoples faces when the plan was circulated and they realised that they would eventually be losing their giant car park. Naturally it didn’t occur to them that there was a bus station virtually on the doorstep.
A Takapuna local board member has suggested developing a business park around the Akoranga station when the lease for the golf driving range runs out.
AT and MAXX both ensure I cannot use public transport because the stupid planner expects me to walk about 30 minutes to catch a bus to the shore.