Auckland Transport have announced a consultation for bus services to Warkworth.
What does the future of public transport look like for Warkworth?
Auckland Transport is asking people in Warkworth for their input on the future of public transport for the area.
An engagement survey which will help design and guide future public transport options opens Monday 21 July and locals will have four weeks to give their feedback.
The Auckland Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP) allows for the introduction of a bus service between Warkworth and Silverdale which would run 7 days a week. The RPTP suggests a two hour frequency during the day and hourly at peak times. Buses would terminate at a new Hibiscus Coast Station to be built in Silverdale, where passengers could connect to services to Auckland city (via the Northern Express), or local services to other areas of the Hibiscus Coast.
Anthony Cross, Public Transport Network Manager says the survey is the first step in engaging with the community.
“While we are asking for specific feedback on the proposed Silverdale link, the survey is also an opportunity for people to indicate what other local and long distance services they want.
Any new services would be trialled for at least a year.
“Based on the outcome of the survey we will then develop some proposed routes and timetables and return back to the community for further discussion.
“We understand that this two-step engagement will take some time and a balance between community desire and financial and practical constraints will have to be made. We are confident however that with the community’s input we can put together a proposal to take forward,” says Mr Cross.
Mayor Len Brown says that getting Auckland moving through a highly functioning public transport system is front and centre of the Auckland Plan.
“A public transport system that gives all Aucklanders, including those up to Warkworth, an attractive and realistic alternative to using their cars is an absolute priority. The proposed bus service between Warkworth and Silverdale is an important step towards that goal,” he says.
In addition feedback on the current Kowhai Connection is also being sought.
Any new services are likely to become operational in 2016, subject to the outcome of public consultation and tender process. Changes to the Kowhai Connection as a result of this engagement could be made earlier.
For more information go online to www.AT.govt.nz/NewNetwork or come along to a public information event.
· Monday 28 July, anytime between 4pm and 7pm at the Masonic Hall, 3 Baxter Street, Warkworth.
· Saturday 9 August, anytime between 10.30am and 2pm, on the New Network Info Bus, Queen Street, Warkworth.
In not sure how well buses will by used in Warkworth but I do think it’s important for the town to have some PT connections to the rest of the region so this is a good development.
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The idea of a Warkworth to Silverdale bus Service as proposed by Auckland Transport is very worth while pursuing. Warkworth has been set down in Auckland Councils plans for more Residential Housing. The neccisity and urgency over a decent quality Par and Ride at Silverdale MUST be completed As soon as possible because of new housing at Silverdale. Mayor Len Brown says he wants to promote Public Transport then here is a Priority Project at Silverdale Depot, Warkworth Service. The sooner these services are established the better.
Agree, having been up there today and seen the scale of the residential developments, all totally auto-dependent, it needs services and fast. What horror it will be to be a teenager in those isolated new subdivisions…
And Warkworth itself, current condition:
As a Warkworth resident, I can certainly agree with this. There is an appalling service between Warkworth and Orewa/Silverdale. I would like the opportunity to travel to Auckland by bus via either Silverdale or Albany stations, but at present I can’t. There are no services from Warkworth apart from the long distance buses from Whangarei or dargavile, which have to be booked in advance and are always full anyway. I’d also like to be able to travel to work at Albany by bus, but there are no services before 11.00am, so that’s out of the question too.
As well as the shuttle buses to Albany and Silverdale, the whole question of local services in and around Warkworth and Silverdale/Hibiscus Coast needs to be resolved. Millwater is already almost impossible to get around by PT and the danger is that the re-developed Warkworth will become the same.
There is a wider issue, however. retail development in Warkworth is expected to be concentrated in 4 different areas of the town, none of which will be connected by PT. The council and local boards need to get to grips with this as a matter of urgency or Warkworth will become a mini-Auckland where everyone has to be a car owner/user or they will not be able to go about their daily business.
Are you confusing retail development with business development in general? – I understood that the bulk of retail/ commercial (e.g. professional services) development will still be concentrated around the historic centre of Warkworth while business/ light industrial uses will continue to expand around Woodcocks Road and Hudson Street.
Not at all. if you head N into Warkworth there is already a sign directing you to the “Retail” area in Woddcocks Rd (where the Mitre 10 Mega Store is), which I am sure must infuriate the retail businesses in the historic centre of the town. More retail development is expected in the Woodcocks area. Also, a site on the corner of Hudsons rd/SH1 has recently been acquired by Foodstuffs for the construction later of a new Pak n Save store + other retail outlets. An area to the South of the town adjacent to SH1 and close to the existing Carters store has just been sold to Z New Zealand who are proposing a development of a service centre including fast food outlets and up to 20 retail stores. This means that Warkworth will have 4 distinct retail areas, all approx. 1 to 1.5 Kms apart. A recipe for disaster – MADNESS.
Ah the Chch model -> everyone driving between centres constantly. Does wonders for lifting time spent in cars, congestion, and vast duplication of land given over to parking.
See also: Hamilton, Tauranga.
I think that bus service is a bad idea. I will vote to reject all mass transit expansion until there’s a feasibility study done into the many Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) options, like http://www.skytran.us/intro/
PRT is cheaper than roads, faster than roads, all electric, and more flexible. Rather than puting bus service in, where $1 spent is a dollar lost, putting money into PRT would form a lasting infrastructure upgrade.
AT will never consider anything that doesn’t run on roads (unless forced to), so lets start pushing for better options now, or we’ll never have them.
Surely you jest? Please tell me you’re joking.
Buses are a waste of money. Why spend money to move a person, rather than spending money to build an infrastructure that’ll do it nearly free?
If we don’t do that, we might as well dig up all the fibre and turn the Internet into a bunch of discs we ship through the post – that’s the bus model so many people swear on.
Why not look for a system that’s cheaper, faster, and more convenient than buses?
Oh, because it’s not widely accepted, I must be joking. Nope, not joking, just looking for a better way to do things.
Wasting money moving people, rather than building a lasting infrastructure that moves people better? Surely *you* jest.
Perhaps you would like to point out a city that has implemented an extensive PRT system that we can visit to see it in action.
A quick poke around on the link I already gave led to:
http://www.skytran.us/skytran/
And the news section linked to:
http://www.israel21c.org/technology/space-age-rapid-transit-to-debut-in-tel-aviv/
So if someone else hasn’t done it 200 years ago, we shouldn’t do it? Roads are thousands of years old, and trains 200+, so we should stick to them. Doing the best option should be banned unless someone else has done it many times before.
And you can go to Tel Aviv and see the construction, which has started, but the line isn’t operational yet. That will be the first, for SkyTran. There are other small examples of PRT in other places. Feel free to look it up. Since you had such a hard time finding anything on the site I linked to the front page of, I’ll give you a more direct starting point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_rapid_transit#Existing_and_planned_networks
Why is transit better when ‘personal’? Isn’t that what a car is? So why try to duplicate what we already have? And of course it is impossible for it be cheaper to install a whole new infrastructure than fund buses to share an existing one.
“Why is transit better when ‘personal’?”
I neither know, nor care. But many of the complaints about public transport are in regards to having to share the space with others, screaming kids, smelly people, drunk people, cell-phone talkers. Eliminating that with smaller service vehicles would eliminate those complaints.
You’d have to ask the complainants what their problem is with it. I just read the reports and try to identify systems that would be “better”, as in encourage greater ridership than the poorly utilized NZ mass transit.
“Isn’t that what a car is? So why try to duplicate what we already have? ”
Because people seem to like it so much?
“And of course it is impossible for it be cheaper to install a whole new infrastructure than fund buses to share an existing one.”
Could you share your calculations with us? I’d be interested in seeing how you came to that conclusion.
Ok so you admit PRT has no advantage except that it allows uptight people to not share space with others. Exactly. And society should invest in this hang-up, why?
You seriously think you can build a system of dangling pods and operate it at the capacity of the AKL PT network cheaper than putting buses on the road? You’re a genius then, so it’s clear that the onus is on you to show the numbers…
I get that these little suspended cars appeal to people fixated on the new, and those with issues about strangers (wonder why it’s only in the Middle East that they’re planning one of these?), but in fact there is nothing new technology about these things, they’ve been able to be built for over a century. The reason they haven’t been is because in practice they combine the worst features of our existing systems. They have the low capacity of road cars and the fixed route inflexibility of high capacity systems like rail. Also they require new, and yes expensive, and visually invasive infrastructure for little capacity pay back.
Cute for theme parks, that’s about it. Not going to solve any of Tel Aviv’s problems.
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“Ok so you admit PRT has no advantage except that it allows uptight people to not share space with others.” I said nothing of the kind. You asked “why personal” and I answered. That has nothing to do with what you assert.
No need to take disagreement so personally. It’s just that your only evidence is a company website flogging its product, and one full of very bold claims but particularly vague on specifics, such a position is likely to provoke the counterfactual.
Same kind of magic recipe reasons as the Tango micro car. Not actually in production and no completed projects to offer.
I’m not sure that there would be enough demand for a very regular service. New developments tend to be middle income households. Whereas users in an area like that would probably be kids, teens, elderly, poor, and tourists perhaps. Compare it to places like raglan, huntly or helensville and the level of service they have. No worker is going to bus into akl from there! Perhaps if the intercity, naked bus could get together and all work out a coherent timetable and local services added to fill the gaps.
A bus going from Warkorth to the Albany Park’n’Ride would be wonderful, even just one or two going down in the morning and the same coming back in the evening as a starter. I am sure they would be well used.
Warkworth needs a workers / shoppers bus in the morning returning in late afternoon.
By having buses running from Warkworth to Albany and returning would hugely benefit a variety of people. Including our young people who have limited work opportunities in the area. By working in another area such as Silverdale or Albany they are having to spend a big portion of their starting wage to cover their commuting expenses. Petrol, toll fees, wear and tear adds up very quickly. There is also the concern that these young people are driving these busy main roads without a lot of driving experience. As it is there isn’t a lot to offer our young people in Warkworth, I believe that these buses would hugely benefit them and encourage more employment in the area.
They won’t need to go to Albany. The NEX will be running to the Silverdale interchange.
We need a park & ride here @ warkworth to Silverdale auckland asap. We pay the same super city rates and r entitled. Your comments thankyou
A park and ride at Warkworth makes a lot of sense. I’d suggest you bring that up with your local councillor and local board.