This weekend has been described as perhaps one the biggest of the year due to the sheer number of events that are on around the city. Some of the events included:
- Pasifica at Western Springs
- The Auckland Art festival with large crowds particularly at the domain for The Breath of the Volcano (it was very good show).
- The Kumeu Show
- Round the Bays
- Rugby at Eden Park
- Concerts at Vector Arena
- Softball World Champs at Albany
Many of these events are very large, drawing tens of thousands of people each and naturally that can create issues with gridlocked streets. So much so that it prompted Auckland Transport to warn of possible congestion and they urged people to consider taking public transport. This is good suggestion as in my view events are times when many non PT users are willing to give the system a go. Giving them a good impression can be a critical step in getting people to think about using PT for other trips, like their commute to work. But in my mind, while the suggestion was the right one, it simply wasn’t backed up by making the PT system usable enough.
Despite all of the events, the only day additional services were put on, was today when the archaic and infrequent western line timetable was improved along with a few additional southern line services. Out west there were even trains more frequently than hourly and we even had trains travel past Henderson on a Sunday (although stupidly they were still only only hourly). This meant that for many people attending events, especially those on Saturday, PT was simply not a viable option.
Perhaps the best example comes from reader Andrew who went to “The Breath of the Volcano” on Saturday night. I’ve leant over the last few years that Andrew is quite an avid user of PT and will use it for as many trips as possible. Like normal, he wanted to use it on Saturday night to get to and from the Domain to watch the show. Andrew lives near the Western line so the train would have been ideal. The problem though is that the show was scheduled to finish at about 10pm. A train was due at Grafton at 10:02 but that is not enough time to make it unless you leave the show early. The crappy timetable meant that the next train was no due to an hour later and like most normal people, he and his wife didn’t like the idea of sitting around at a train station for up to an hour waiting for the next train, as a result they decided to drive.
At the end of the event they made their way back to their car, a route which took them past the Grafton station and to their surprise they found a train sitting on the platform. Someone had clearly made the decision to hold the train to allow for people making their way from the event to use it. Something which had Andrew known was going to happen, would have seen him using it instead of driving. He said the train was quite busy, probably with people who don’t normally catch the train but who expect services to at least be semi decent. Although perhaps someone didn’t want to advertise it due to the fact they only were running a two car train (seriously AT why do you let Veolia get away with this crap on a weekend).
Of course when additional services are added and people are aware of them, unsurprisingly they get used. Here is a photo from Jeremy Greenbrook-Held on a service this morning with some people who were clearly heading to round the bays.
There is another aspect where all the call for people to use PT for travel to events falls over, and that is the fares. Since the introduction of AT HOP for at the end of October last year, there are only a handful of locations where you are able to buy a family pass. This means that even with everyone getting HOP discounts, a family of four could end up paying over $40 in travel alone. With costs like those it is no surprise when they instead choose to take a car.
Until AT start getting serious about off peak and weekend frequencies then all the marketing in the world won’t make much difference and their marketing efforts will be wasted.
Processing...
Typical from the idiots at Auckland Transport who think the only people who will ever catch PT are peak time commuters working in the CBD.
I don’t think it’s very fair say the people at AT are “idiots” simply because weekend services were over-loaded from an unusual concentration of events. After all they only have a certain budget and (assuming these events aren’t required to kick in for additional PT services) then the money has to come from somewhere. And maybe someone somewhere vetoed the application for additional funds? Who knows …
I do agree that Auckland still does not seem to have its head around transport planning for major events though. You would have thought we’d have learnt a few things from the RWC. The whole thing still feels very uncoordinated and far too many concessions continue to be made to private vehicles. In general I’d like to see more roads being closed off to allow buses and event vehicles to move freely, including emergency services.
The fact buses on New North Road were not able to get through the congestion at Western Springs suggests the traffic management plans for the events themselves may have been the weak link.
Can’t agree more. Overloading is normal at major events. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with pre- and post-event PT being packed. The problem is when that PT doesn’t work, which is compounded by poor communication. I went to the rugby on Sunday and used the free train travel included in the ticket to get home to Ellerslie. After a quick pint in Kingsland, I went to get the 7.06. Having read the timetable in advance, I naively thought the 7.06 would be on or close enough to time to make the 5-minute change at Newmarket. Silly me, the train was 20 minutes late, meaning a loooong wait at Newmarket. And naturally No communication of reasons for the delays. On a day when the were e will be many casual PT users, and thus potential new users to impress, why can AT not get it right? More services where needed, and make them on time please! I don’t want to bleat for direct West-South services because of the network issues it brings, bit if not, how can transfers be feasible if the timetable isn’t kept to?
We went to Pasifica on Saturday as we usually do, and as we usually do we use PT to get there and back.
So we trained to Britomart on the GI line, then hopped the 030 Bus to Western Springs right outside the Britomart centre.
Coming back was reverse process – made more complex by the fact that buses were all stuck in traffic further up the road before Western Springs, which is why no buses came for 15 minutes, then 5 (yep 5!) came one after another.
But clearly AT gave Saturdays train or bus timetable no more thought, and they were running the usual 2 car DMUs, which were reasonably full in the morning.
Who knows how they coped later in the day.
The only concession seemed to be some kind of shuttle bus from near Baldwin Ave station to Pacfica, but one look at the Weekend Western Line timetable soon made that idea a non-starter due to the sheer infrequency on the Western line.
So buses from Britomart it was.
[We used to use the special buses from outside 277 in Newmarket but NZ bus seems to have dropped these in recent years so we have to use the Birtomart buses instead.
All up the cost for the trains and buses for myself and my wife came to $25 total. We could have saved half that cost by driving into town and parking in the parking buidling
– cheaper than the train fares from the park and ride station. Bus at $3.40 casual fare each way was also expensive,
Both fares were the same price as during the week.
So yeah, quite expensive relative to the driving option.
I could have driven to Unitec and used the free shuttle service there and saved even more money.
I chose not to drive to keep traffic away from that part of town as its pretty busy down there.
So AT, you have a big fat marketing fail here – not only should PT be the cheapest option to pick – especially on a weekend.
It should be the option everyone uses without a second thought and the services should be there to support that.
To give them a small compliment, they did run more trains on Sunday (today) on the Eastern Line, probably more to do with the Rugby being on than anything else.
So seems to me that AT’s Marketing Dept clearly sees some benefits of making sports fans use PT to get to/from the game, but for other purposes – not interested.
I had the misfortune of taking the Outer Link from Parnell to Pasifika (well Pt Chev plus 10min walk). It took 45mins via the southern route (this is what the timetables said was best!). Decided trying the northern route and it only took 40mins!
AT needs to use advertisements in week or so leading up to big events showcasing the easy way to get there.
ATEED need to help too, the Pasifika website just directed people to AT.co.nz . The 2 CCO’s need to work much better together, seems to be a strong silo.
Yes I fully agree with this, as an outsider looking in it seems that ATEED need to shift their goal away from simply being “more events” to “more events that run smoothly”.
These are fantastic events and they do add to the city’s character, but they should not be mis-managed to the point that the whole PT network starts to crumble because of congestion attributable to the event.
If the event is that big then ATEED should be requiring event organisers to block off more roads to cars and possible include free public transport in the event ticket price.
All the worlds best PT systems are busy all day everyday, and have service levels to match. So Auckland still has a long way to go!
Auckland PT is still barley adequate, AT pays lip service to PT. So that only thing that has changed in recent years is there PT advocates are now mainstream and vocal.
Auckland is not alone, Wellingtons bus network while better than Auckland doesn’t do well with special events. (it’s trains usually do)
Luckily many of the larger teams had organised there own buses to take people back to the CBD but I bet most tried to drive in to CBD with dire early Sunday morning PT.
Better than Half Hourly services along Tamaki Drive on Summer Weekends would be really great too. Especially if it was advertised people could get an easy service from Britomart or GI train station.
And why does the 771, exist, 5 services a day on Sunday from who knows where to Newmarket via Mission Bay. Luckily was useful for me due to sheer luck and use of AT app but seems a bizzare service.
“With costs like those it is no surprise when they instead choose to take a car”
Given PT can’t even meet operating costs (except for buses) why is adding services in times when there is little traffic congestion a sensible idea? Rail services are heavily subsidised based on the tenuous claim about reducing congestion – this doesn’t really apply on the weekend.
The only reason trains cost what they do (and thus require “operational subsidies” – and its not like roads don’t get those either is it?), is because they’re 50 year old clapped pieces of kitwhich cost a fortune to maintain and operate as they run on diesel fuel.
the new EMU’s will have operating costs which are much lower as they sip electricity, not guzzle diesel, and they only need 2 staff – driver and Train Manager.
So the cost of running any service using EMUs will be pretty low. Probably lower than a bus – if the train carries more than a bus load of people.
How many times have you seen a full bus of Pt users in the weekends or outside peak hours and do you think we should reduce weekend bus services because of this because these services obviously need a subsidy?
Oh and yes, the congestion reducing claims of PT *do* apply on some weekends – the one just past is the most recent such example.
That’s not my understanding. I have looked st the CRl business case. It indicates operating subsidies will be required indefinitely even with high passenger growth. And that’s not even mentioning capital costs…
Roads do get subsidised, but it is nothing like rail. They largely pay for themselves.
Buses require far less subsidy than rail. The bus subsidy is lower than rail, and it implicitly includes capital costs! So, way lower. You can argue for PT subsidies outside of the peak from a social service perspective. Buses can do this.
Buses and trains have almost identical subsidy costs per passenger-km in Auckland.
The only difference is the average trip by train is much longer distance than the average by bus, so if you measure simple boardings you’re not capturing the fact trains do more work per boarding.
Once the EMU fleet is operational per-train opex will be far lower than it is currently, yet each train will be able to carry more people. That means the subsidy per passenger-km will plummet well under that of buses.
But Nick,
The subsidy costs for trains ignore capital costs, whereas the subsidy costs for buses include capital costs via the cost of the buses and RUC (to meet the cost of the roads).
Swan, that has been changing, the new EMU’s are being paid for by a loan, the payments for which are coming out of the OPEX budget in a way, they are treated just the same as buses. Tracks are a bit different, much of the CAPEX has been spent on just getting the tracks back to an acceptable level, ongoing maintenance costs are now fully paid for by track access fees which are part of the OPEX budget
Swan: As someone clearly obsessed with the socialised costs of rail it is only reasonable to count the socialised costs of auto dependency too. One example: The land that cars sit on is never counted yet it is prescribed by the state, so even if you never use a car you must fund it all through this universal land tax.
Furthermore rail right of ways, including tunnels, are incredibly long lasting assets and amortised over a brief period of their useful lives; the tube still runs through Victorian tunnels and even on Victorian track.
The best way to get more VALUE out of movement structures is to use them more efficiently and not in our currently wildly unbalanced way. Too much reliance on one system and not enough of others leads to expensive over investment in one and inefficient underinvestment in others. Complete with feedback.
Rails has high fixed costs, the more trains you run the lower the fixed cost per train.
The demand is there for weekend trains, cost per pax will go down with electrics.
There are few bus routes that cover costs.
I don’t disagree that rail has high fixed costs! You second sentence is a tautology.
My point is even ignoring fixed costs, rail doesn’t pay for operating costs.
Most buses don’t pay their way, but they come far closer than rail. If you stripped out the cost of the buses and RUC from the bus subsidy, a lot of routes would be close to break even.
njawwww that’s not true dft7132. And why would you measure cost recovery on a route basis?
Northern Express, Onewa Rd, Dom Rd, Mt Eden, New North, EPH would be likely to cover their costs. When you add up all the KMS associated with those routes then you’ll find it’s a reasonable proportion of the total bus network.
Sure, there’s probably 50+ highly subsidised bus routes that run once every second Sunday when it’s a full-moon, but when you weight them by passengers and/or KMS then they’re not very important.
I’m not measuring cost recover on a route by route basis, rather pointing out that weekend rail has more value than swan thinks. Interesting that other than the northern express all the other routes that may well cover there costs are central routes that were mostly formally tram routes. You have to have whole network and that why there are subsides for buses.
Swan I do tend to disagree with you here.
First let’s consider the merits of PT on weekends:
1. It is commonly observed that people who are considering switching to PT for their work journey are likely to start by trying PT out in off-peak periods: It is these services that inform their impressions of PT; and
2. On many parts of the network traffic volumes in peak weekend periods (typically around lunchtime) will approach the weekday peaks. Especially those in proximity to retail and recreational activities.
Second let’s consider the issue of operational costs, in particular some “operating costs” associated with private vehicles that are currently “subsidised”:
1. Regulatory intervention in the form of minimum parking requirements has resulted in pervasive and substantial parking subsidies: http://www.fcpp.org/publication.php/2839. This is economically not that dissimilar to a direct cash subsidy, as PT receives; and
2. Our transport pricing does not account for the opportunity cost of the land on which it sits. Thus, one of the primary costs of road based transport systems (i.e. the space that they occupy) is not considered in calculations of their operating costs.
So I don’t think it’s as simple as saying “congestion does not exist in off-peak periods therefore why are we subsidising PT.” Not saying I have all the answers, just saying that the economic issues public transport helps to address are quite complex.
Ok
1. Fair enough, but this is a tenuous assumption on top of a tenuous assumption. I think we need to think about opportunity cost – how much is bus lane paint again?
2. Yes it gets a bit snarled up around Albany of a weekend. But if suckers want to sit in traffic waiting to go to a mall – a) God help them, and b) I cant see it being policy relevant
On the subsidies to road – Agreed, however I dont see why two wrongs make a right. I am not sure if you are applying those points to buses directly? If you are – buses are pretty space efficient particularly as they are able to share roads once they get out into the burbs. And minimum parking requirements dont apply to buses. I am not trying to say that I dont care about road subsidies, but the first best option is to get rid of them. And if we cant get rid of them, I still dont see why this adds any weight to the policy of subsidising other modes.
And of course good frequent weekend and late hour off peak services don’t act in isolation. They support the peak ones by giving the peak user more options. For example a regular morning peak commuter probably has to make other plans if they intend to go on to a show after work as our services all stop so early. So having a poor off peak programme actually affects the core business too. But then of course the bean counters would have to understand whole network value; both in space and time.
Arguable for weekday off peak services – but weekends?
Swan, I could see that in some circumstances. The decision making process could be about whether ot not the family should have a second car, and be based around whether PT will support the family’s weekend activities. Inadequate weekend PT services – buy a second car. Having bought a second car, they may decide that they might as well use it to drive to work in the week.
I find the other problem with weekends is that it seems to bring out the occasional riders and the Gold cards (or maybe I avoid them because I am work during weekdays). So today I Got on the way into town:
1. A guy catch the bus for 200m ( between 8423 and 8421 ) . The buses were at 20 minute intervals so no idea how long he was waiting.
and on the way home:
1. Two people talk to the driver for 5 minutes about where they were going and *then* dig around for the money
2. Same again two stops further along
3. An old guy get on who forgot or never had or lost his gold card. He dug around in his wallet for 3 minutes to find it and then tried to push past the driver to get a seat. After 2 minutes of him trying to push past the driver a young mother gave the driver some money for him.
So 3 groups of idiots added 10-15 minutes to everybody’s journey time.
Just thought it spread the blame around a little 🙂
Whoa – Auckland really is a small place. That’s me in the red singlet off to Round the Bays! I remember seeing someone take the photo, I just didn’t expect it to be for the blog I read daily…
I had a mixed day with PT today. Training to RTB worked fine (3min late, but that’s nothing). After the race & BBQ I tried getting buses back to Britomart from St Heliers, but from the size of the queues meant getting a bus would probably take longer than the run. Ended up walking back to Britomart and finding a Western line train due to leave in 2 minutes. The return journey was so quick as the train was a direct Kingsland (via Grafton) service, so we skipped Newmarket, prompting me to daydream about the post-CRL rail network.
Days like today really emphasised how good a tram along Tamaki drive would be, for commuters, tourists (linking Mission Bay, Kelly Tarlton’s & Britomart) and special events where you have to move tens of thousands of people along the waterfront to Britomart.
yes days like today do emphasise 1) why Auckland is a wonderful place to live and 2) how PT can make a wonderful contribution to the life of a city.
I am about to fly out to Sydney for a holiday but before I go;
Geez Matt bit slow with the Family Pass there 😉
And those going to the Unitary Plan launch – all the best
Caught a Northern Express bus at midnight on Saturday – pretty long cue at Britomart waiting to get on and had to stand all the way to Sunnynook. Thankfully there was enough room for everyone, unlike the Lantern Festival weekend when the Birkenhead bus had to drive past people waiting.
Besides the PT supply, another issue is price, which was why we drove to town today. We attended another event at Rotoroa Island as part of Seaweek. We were thinking of taking the bus to Britomart and walking to Pier 4 for the 845 ferry- no problem for us cos I take the 655 and walk from Britomart to work daily. However, it would have cost us (2 adults and a toddler) $16.20, while parking at the Britomart carpark was $13. Since some commentors here are saying that weekend PT may be a challenge cos of the costs of running the services, one way to attract more usage when more PT is provided during such busy weekends is to lower the price. Maybe that would be worth a trial for the next busy weekend. Any idea when that is? Actually, I wonder if it’s anyone job at AT to monitor such potential peak periods.
Hmm … I don’t disagree with some of what you say, but on a fundamental level why would you lower the price during already busy weekends? Would that just not exacerbate the crowding issues?
In saying that a lower off-peak fare is a great ideas, as per the 20% discount TransLink offers in Brisbane.
What a clown show,seriously. Looks like AT blew their load for the rugby world cup, and it’s all down hill from here folks. Surely trains can be run at least every 15mins during peak times on a weekend.
Time to start posting photos of the incompetents running this outfit.
Tranz Metro Wellington manages to keep abreast of all major events and invariably lengthens trains or adds extra trains accordingly. I don’t tend to follow Wellington’s events-schedule, however I always know that something is on when I see 4-car off-peak services on the Johnsonville line. And if I see 4-car trains at 15-min intervals late on Sunday night I know that the All Blacks have probably just thrashed the Wallabies or Springboks at the “cake-tin”! It’s that predictable (except when playing the French. You never know what tricks they will pull).
This is one area in which Tranz Metro gets it right. AT guys should pop down for a few lessons.
AT are on top of the rugby by now. The problem is all the other events that aren’t quite as big but still need more effort than one train per hour.
That photo was taken on the 8:05 from Kingsland. We weren’t going to the Round The Bay – I was taking my baby daughter to swimming lessons at the Tepid Bathes – so it didn’t occur to me that there might be special trains on Sunday, otherwise we would have caught a later train.
It’s also worth noting that the train was eight carriages long (not the usual two carriage units), and every carriage was as full as the one we were in. Putting longer trains on for special events is a new (and welcome) strategy from AT. And Britomart was packed – it certainly didn’t feel like a Sunday in the city!
If they ran more regular services on the weekend, I believe it would increase patronage – I love catching the train into the city on the weekend, but knowing they’re running only once an hour makes me consider driving – I wonder how many other people would consider the train if they were once every half hour?
Jeremy
“It’s also worth noting that the train was eight carriages long”
I’d give you a loco and 6 carriages – but eight ? Britomart isn’t long enough.
They should not be shagging around adjusting lengths of trains anyway. It is a complete waste of time and money. At absolute most there should be two lengths of train, a full length one and a half length one..
Combining and splitting trains to meet demand is easy when using “multiple unit” trains, of which the majority of Auckland’s current interim fleet are not. This will again becomre possible and practical when the electric multiple unit (EMU) trains enter service over the next couple of years.
In the meantime, most of the current train consists are literally bolted together, meaning their length is fixed.