As we know, public transport in Auckland often leaves a lot to be desired with it only seems to work really well in a handful of situations. The good news is that despite a few delays and false starts, we seem to be on the right track and over the next few years there are a few massive changes happening. We will get an entire fleet of brand new electric trains, an entirely revamped bus network and tying all together will be integrated ticketing and fares. There are a few other important things going on behind the scenes like the roll out of a new contracting regime but that is something that most people won’t know or care about.
Communicating some of these changes is not going to be easy for Auckland Transport as there is simply so much changing over what is a relatively short period of time. There are also bound to be some challenging times for the organisation, especially in relation to the changes for new bus network. So it is good to see support and communication for the changes coming straight from the top of the organisation. In an opinion piece in the Herald today, Chairman Lester Levy provides his thoughts.
Restoring faith in Auckland’s transport system
When it comes to transport in Auckland the stakeholders are as many and varied as are the differing and divergent views.
I guess it has always been like this and over many decades ad hoc decisions, decisions half-made, questionable decisions and decisions deferred or never made have severely limited options.
Transport solutions in Auckland are well behind where they should be, but not where we have to stay.
I have been chairman of Auckland Transport for six months. What do I see? Public transport in Auckland is just not yet good enough. The trains do not run frequently enough and frequently they do not run on time. The bus real-time information does not seem real to many, because it is not, a lot of the time.
Peak times on trains and buses are often very crowded and it just seems like there are not enough of them – that is because often there are not. The new AT Hop card has had some issues – these have been very frustrating for passengers.
Doubt, distrust, ridicule, criticism – that has largely been the history of transport in Auckland. The possibility that transport issues in Auckland could ever be resolved seems to have been consigned to the wastebasket of history.
I believe a large part of the problem is there have been so many strategies and plans that it seems to me that figuring out what to do has become more important than actually doing something.
Perhaps because of this, far too many Aucklanders have lost faith that there is an alternative to their private car.
There is no need to declare defeat.
Change is coming fast! I believe that Auckland’s transport problems can and will be resolved – but it will not be easy.
Imagine if every negative, downward-spiral critic had prevailed in history. We would have no antibiotics, no air travel, no smartphones and a whole bunch of other fantastic stuff that has enriched our lives. We need to move beyond the downward spiral critics (even many of the transport reports are loaded with pessimistic assumptions and outcomes), but just as importantly we need to take off the rose-tinted glasses, confront reality and be very honest about where we are with transport in Auckland and very clear about where we need to be.
As I said, change is coming fast. Neighbourhood by neighbourhood, transport operator by transport operator, mode by mode, route by route, street by street – we at Auckland Transport are taking this thing apart piece by piece and will return it put back together in a new form – a form where public transport will operate with precision.
High frequency, reliability, attractive and affordable pricing, higher levels of passenger comfort, accurate and accessible information and high levels of safety and security are the principles that we are now moving forward on.
What we are proposing is not a simple “chemical face-peel” where the changes are minor and temporary. For a few months the skin looks perfect and then just returns to what it was before. What Auckland Transport is about to undertake is “major reconstructive surgery” where the changes will be significant and permanent.
Auckland Transport is embarking on a full review of every single bus route, a major upgrade of the trains, new ferry services, new fare structures, new ways of paying for everything – so much needs to be turned around and we are going at public transport like it has never ever been done in Auckland before.
Auckland Transport is going to create a public transport network of buses, trains and ferries that will present as a highly desirable option for those who have never really considered it before. Critical to providing public transport in a totally different paradigm is planning and delivering the services totally from the perspective of the passenger – not of the bureaucracy or the provider. Revolutionising the passenger experience is fundamental to moving forward.
Sure, we will need to build more infrastructure (and hard choices will need to be made), but let us not miss the opportunity right in front of us to extract the huge and unseen potential from our existing investments. It is not simply about building more, it is also about getting a lot more out of what we have and then when we do build more we will get outcomes that currently seem unlikely.
Change will happen, but like all progress will take time – in three years transport in Auckland will be different and by 2020 it will be very, very different.
This comes less than a week after AT launched the excellent new video for the new PT network that we are getting.
Processing...
As part of the new system, are we going to get displays that tell us when the bus is going to the there, as opposed to a system that tells you when the bus was meant to arrive, and then tells you that it’s due, and then disappears off the display and the bus doesn’t turn up?
For example, last Friday at 5:40 I arrived at stop 1067 (near the Caltex on Fanshawe St) to catch the city link into the city. The display told me the bus would be arriving at 5:45. I waited for 10 minutes and the bus never turned up, so I walked. If the bus was going to take a long time to arrive, just tell me, don’t tell me the scheduled time, it doesn’t help me.
I seem to remember seeing an article somewhere (possibly here) that AT were ditching the existing “Real Time” system completely rather than trying to fix it any further. Hopefully that happens.
cue robotic voice: THE NEW SYSTEM KNOWS EVERYTHING.
Serious answer: No, the “New Networl” (as discussed in the video) is concerned with improving the structure of the network – not the RTI system. But from reading AT’s monthly board reports it would seem that they are considering upgrades to the RTI, but that’s independent from the New Network.
About a month ago I got to the bus stop and was told my bus was due in 3 mins. 20 mins latter there it came. Another time I was told to was due in 700 mins. Likely that time it turned up in about 5.
Scheduled, or due?
Buses need to turn up on time, period. In Wellington, the new timetables and routes are heavily based on RTI trip time data. Auckland really needs to get reliable RTI and do regular timetable reviews based on that data, instead of “making them up”. A lot of the time, they’re quite arbitrary – if a bus is always late, change the timetable and give the bus more time!
I’m pretty sure AT and the bus operators are in the process of doing this (aligning timetables with the actual travel time) don’t know how long it will take for it be finished, but it’s happening kind like what the Dr Levy was hinting at there not accepting this bad state of affairs and try to make things better. The thing is there is a lot of bad things to fix but yeah let’s fix it just might be a while before the wider public notices or sees it. From where I’m standing things have improved a fair bit, I can happy eat my words about Dr Levy I think he will deliver the goods.
Yes, although when you’re replacing all the routes you may as well just start again. Or use the RTI information to calculate speeds by segment (rather than route) and piece together travel-times for the new routes.
Now there’s an idea …
This x10
Only a few of Wellington’s new timetables are based on RTI data, because that data is not yet comprehensive enough overall. One day…
The Puketapapa Local Board has organised a meeting discussing transport this Friday – so presumably other local boards are running similar events.
https://www.facebook.com/events/185086714980378/
Unfortunately – and perhaps ironically – the meeting runs from 1600-1800, so CBD commuters are unlikely to be able to attend.
Never heard a squeak from Manurewa Local Board. Not really surprised as they are controlled by right-wingers who no doubt believe PT is for poor people.
How can Manurewa possibly be a right wing board????
Because only the propertied minority bother voting.
Local politics are so frustrating.
I like the way Lester Levy thinks. Kudos. Keep up the good work.
Also an interesting article today on intensification by Dr Jamie Hosking from Auckland University:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10885180
Here he mentions Don Brash who ‘called for relaxation of the metropolitan urban limits’.
Was that dude an economist? To my mind sprawl leads to a loss of allocative efficiency.
Accepting there is a problem is the first step to a fix. I feel somewhat confident.
As do I.
The new network will be great, and hopefully the timetables will be better than what we have now.
Yes isn’t it fantastic to finally get a genuine “the system doesn’t work very well, we’re making it better” approach to communications from AT, rather than the usual “everything’s absolutely perfect!!!!” rubbish that we normally get.
Yes, this is very good. Real improvement is coming and this attitude is a great start. The rest of the year is still going to be a hard slog without too much in the way of visible outcomes. Real HOP on buses I guess will be the most concrete thing.
I’d have to agree and can’t help feel that one of the audiences for this article were AT employees. A public ‘we are crap, but committed to getting better’ hopefully will give them the message that anything other than constant improvement in customer experience won’t be tolerated.
Bit of enthusiasm from the top is good, even if just puffery at this stage. There’s certainly hope for the trains but only able to carry low volumes on the current network. The buses – pah! While we continue to go large on cars by building sub-divisions with no PT infrastructure (eg trains, light rail) and backing mall-based suburban lifestyles (actually the real problem here), then the buses will be on clogged roads and therefore unreliable so people will stick to their cars. And then we’ll decide we need to speed up the buses by building more community-killing bus lanes which in turn loads up car congestion but still doesn’t get people out of their cars. Which brings us back to… pretty much what we have now. Still good luck to AT. Will check back in with Mr Levy in 2020…
Excuse me, but how are bus lanes “community-killing” and how do they “load up car congestion” when they generally carry more people than a single general traffic lane would.
Imagine you own a cafe on the northern side of Dominion Road. As a by-product of the bus lane outside, you have a single lane tailback of cars/mixed traffic a mile long (ie loading up congestion), chugging pollution into the air. For two hours every morning. As a side order, you have the bus lane which is empty save for the occasional charging bus. A table outside for you, sir? Maybe not. Huddled inside away from the rolling catastrophe of rush hour. Or what about that customer who, in a civilised arrangement, might have crossed the street for a coffee? Nah, they now think it’s not worth the jeopardy. Or maybe you’re unfortunate enough to actually live on Dom Rd…. bet rush hour is a joy. The thing is, creating de facto expressways through local ‘villages’ for giant, diesel-belching behemoths is hardly the way forward for quality urban living.
A bus coming through every few minutes would produce a fraction of the pollution that all the cars using the road would.
@Ben S.
So the bus lane is giving these shop owners am empty lane of traffic in front of their stores, (while the cars are contained in the centre lanes) rather than having two lanes of cars mixed traffic,
Are you saying that before the bus lane there was a total free flow of all traffic and no congestion, and that the tailbacks appeared because of the bus lanes.??
giant, diesel-belching behemoths is hardly the way forward for quality urban living
Leaving aside the ‘giant’, which only really applies to our new double-deckers and ancient bendy-buses, there’s a point here. A lot of our bus fleet isn’t very clean, and it’s noisy. Anyone who’s been a pedestrian standing beside at lights when it takes off, or a cyclist unfortunate enough to be trapped behind, will know this. There are constraints, mostly budgetary, but we’ve been slow on the uptake for hybrid buses, which are wonderfully quiet and low emissions. That needs to change.
This will also lead to greater community acceptance of buses, particularly for those whose streets experience regular services.
Of course, we should also be doing a lot to clean up the old and dirty car fleet too!
Spare us the hyperbole Ben. It is possible, after all, put bus lanes in the centre/median of the road, as they do in many many cities elsewhere. Median lanes reduce impacts of both buses and trams on the street edge.
It’s largely a street design issue and beyond that a PT fleet issue. There is much improvement can be had without resorting to changing modes, which you seem to endlessly advocate for.
I also think you need to stop spreading the meme that improving buses does not get people out of their cars. Auckland’s recent experience proves otherwise. Oh, and since 1994 bus patronage has grown more (in actual terms) than rail patronage.
Get a grip.
Ben, outdoor cafe seating works best on streets that are not main arterial routes, where the interests of people moving through are more prominent. Even Ponsonby Road is taking the piss, really.
I’m not sure why you are blaming the bus lane. Try Dominion Rd on a weekend or even after 6pm on a weekday when the bus-lanes are not running. Traffic is still insane and often backed up for blocks.
So what would be your solution? Turn the bus lane into a traffic lane and you’ll still get as bad or worse traffic, turn it into a parking lane and you’ll half the capacity on a major road.
With a busy and not especially wide road like Dominion Road outside tables are maybe not the way to go, would hope cafes would be innovative and turn their back carparks into lovely courtyards, much nicer.
Do agree that interestingly parked cars do provide a nicer pedestrian environment than a traffic lane right next to the path. However even on Dominion Road only bus every 5 minutes so shouldnt be a big issue, also note the post from a few days ago – ‘buses as pedestrian fountains’, only way to get more business into Dominion Road is by PT. North south PT is great now, but East West hopeless. The new network does have some better regular cross-towns to fix this, however the cross-town road (especially intersection) environment is very poor, so need major pedestrian upgrades, as well as good service legibility (on bus announcements) to make them work,
AT are working on those pedestrian upgrades and and street interchanges as we speak, they identify its a big thing to look at with the New Network.
Have Mat and / or Patrick tried to have a meeting with this new head of AT ?
The information Patrick brought up at the Green Party CRL meeting a few weeks ago, and he may be willing to meet with you. e.g. the list of new captial projects needs to be reviewed and not just try and do them all etc.
We’ve met; very positive. And key to this is his sense of how much work is required, how far there is to go.
Who is leading who? Auckland Councillors are supposed to be democratically elected?, does Auckland Council tell Auckland Transport what to do or the other way around? The residents and people of Manukau realize an upgrade needs to be done on Redoubt/Mill/Murphy’s Road, there was a perfectly acceptable plan from Opus under the old MCC that the majority were happy with. A large roundabout at the Murphy’s Road/Redoubt Road intersection could easily be done within 6 months, with little cost, helping the traffic to flow smoothly, instead of the huge traffic delays experienced at peck traffic times right now, it is a nightmare.
The other impact, is the ridiculous idea of going through an important bush area of 800 year old native trees
and destroying the whole rural character of the area, the old plan was quite satisfactory and a lot less, of course this is conquer and divide as it is only the first stage of the Flatbush to Drury plan that is going to cost the ratepayers dearly!
The wider picture is the problem of overseas investors buying up to 8 properties at a time and living overseas, thus bumping up the cost of houses in Auckland so Kiwis can’t afford to buy them, Central government needs to change this law,Australia does not allow this to happen!
Fix up the Southern end of the motorway, allow for better and regular transport options from Pukekohe and Waiuku,spend money on the inner city rail loop( over the next 10 years), make sure there is safe and proper parking facilities around all rail stations.
Wake up people of Auckland, your rates are going to go up every year, with the attitude of a mayor who thinks Auckland ratepayers are a bottomless pit.
Carol B
Carol I agree, what they are now planning for Redoubt/Mill/Murphys is nightmare overkill, as I agree with much else of what you say. As to who tells who what to do, here:
http://greaterakl.wpengine.com/2013/05/25/national-you-have-a-problem/
Carol – Currently AT are required to follow the high level strategies set by the council however that is changing. The government are about to remove that and not allow the council to have any real say on what happens, even though it is spending ratepayer money, see these posts.
http://greaterakl.wpengine.com/2013/05/24/is-the-government-trying-to-take-over-auckland-transport/
http://greaterakl.wpengine.com/2013/05/25/national-you-have-a-problem/
How does AKL Council intend to endear people to use public transport when systems in place drive patrons away? Take the concession card ongoing debacle. A separate Bus and Train card. School children have to “renew” their cards and when this is done and “misplaced” by AKL Transport get charged the Adult Fare on their card. Try to correct but online says” card already renewed”. Operations Centre reply to say re-renew your card and then concession will be applied. Other than that consider matter “closed”!!!! Great has cost me $170+ over 2 school children cards due to “renewal forms not processed”…..
Why reinvent the wheel and waste so much of ratepayer funds- BUY AN OFF THE SHELF SYSTEM – Look at Sydney, London, Seattle etc etc
GET INTO THE REAL WORLD AND GIVE AUCKLANDERS THE TRANSPORT SERVICE THEY DESERVE. CLOSE DOWN YOUR CALL CENTRE,WHICH ACTS LIKE OLD IRD- WE RIGHT YOU WRONG – GO AWAY