After holding off on any major consultations while the election campaign was in full swing, Auckland Transport have hit the ground running this week by starting consulting on the new bus network for Pukekohe and Waiuku. It’s good to see the new network progressing and adds to the Hibiscus Coast and South Auckland networks that have been consulted on. In addition the West Auckland network is due to start consultation next month.
Public consultation on changes to bus services for Pukekohe and Waiuku are now open. Residents have four weeks to give feedback on the changes proposed by Auckland Transport (AT).
Andy Baker, Chairman of the Franklin Local Board, says “Improved bus services connecting to trains are something people in Waiuku and Pukekohe have been demanding for a long time so it is really pleasing to see this consultation. This is the opportunity for those who want to see better public transport to have their say on what the best services will be. I challenge them to take advantage of this opportunity so we get the services that are best able to meet those needs whilst being efficient and effective.”
To help get the message out to the community, AT have revamped a Mercedes 305 bus into a mobile roadshow.
The AmBUSador as it is known, will make its first appearance at the Franklin Markets, this Saturday from 8am to midday. It will be at other information events in the area, including the Blast to the Past event in Waiuku, in October.
AT New Network Manager, Anthony Cross says, having the AmBUSador gives AT more flexibility.
“We can drive to where our customers are, park it and invite people on board to look at maps and displays and chat with staff. On sunny days, we can put up the awnings and a few chairs. It will be quite a pleasant way to interact with our customers,” he says.
All are welcome to drop in, anytime at the following information events:
Date Location Time Saturday 27 September Franklin Market: Massey Ave Car park, Pukekohe 8am to 12 noon Tuesday 30 September Waiuku Drop in Day: Waiuku Community Hall, King Street, Waiuku 3pm to 7pm Saturday 4 October Blast to the Past: Waiuku Town Centre, 40 Queen Street. The AmBUSador will be there. from 6pm Thursday 9 October Pukekohe Drop in Day: Franklin Room, Franklin:The Centre, 12 Massey Ave, Pukekohe 3pm to 7pm Saturday 11 October Franklin Market: Massey Ave Carpark, Pukekohe 8am to 12 noon The public transport proposals for Pukekohe include replacing the current Pukekohe loop bus with three new circular bus services. These would run every 30 minutes throughout the day and connect with trains at Pukekohe Station.
A bus between Pukekohe and Wesley College/Paerata will be retained. However it is proposed to remove the bus route between Wesley College/Paerata and Papakura.
Later this year, a new hourly weekend train shuttle to Papakura will commence, and a later evening train during the week from Britomart will be added to the current timetable.
At Waiuku, residents are offered three different bus routes to choose from. A service to Papakura through Kingseat, running every two to three hours and every hour in peak times; a service to Papakura through Drury running every two to three hours and every hour in peak times; or a service to Pukekohe running every one to two hours and every 30 minutes at peak times.
Feedback on the Pukekohe, Waiuku New Network is open until October 17. For more information or to share your views, visit AT.govt.nz/NewNetwork
As the press release above notes, the proposal for Pukekohe is to replace a single large loop service with three new smaller ones that all run at a much higher frequency. The image below shows the current route with the loop only running Monday to Friday extremely infrequently.
And here’s what is proposed with the map also showing the areas gaining and losing service as a result of the changes (which is a nice touch for the consultations but probably only practical on a small area like Pukekohe).
One of the first things that’s noticeable is that for the first time there will be some form of service to the east of the railway tracks. In addition AT have obviously been thinking ahead with this plan too to take account of future developments.
What happens with the trains in Pukekohe is going to play a big part in how this network works together with the rest of the region and AT have indicated what we can expect to happen with them in more detail. They say later this year they will add four services a day on weekdays and the big change will see the introduction of hourly weekend services. They say all services from Pukekohe will travel via Newmarket which presumably means they also plan to bump up services to/from Manukau to cover the eastern line. When the electric trains are fully operational on the Southern line next year the trains from Pukekohe will turn into shuttles between there and Papakura like has long been planned. They will then run with a 20 minute frequency in the peak and hourly off peak. Lastly AT say they plan to increase the off peak frequency in mid to late 2016.
With the change to a diesel shuttle it will be very interesting to see what happens with patronage – both for the buses and the trains. Someone wanting to catch PT all the way to Britomart would need to catch a bus to the train station, the diesel shuttle to Papakura and then an electric train to Britomart. One of the benefits of extending electrification to Pukekohe would be the removal of one of those stages.
In addition to the Pukekohe services residents of Waiuku are being asked to select their preference of three options for future bus services. The options are either one of two services between Waiuku and Papakura with a low frequency or a higher frequency service to Pukekohe.
AT expect the third option to be over 10 minutes faster than the trips directly to Papakura and combined with it having a higher frequency it seems like it will likely be the preferred option.
As mentioned earlier it’s good to see more and more of these consultations getting out
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One of the things they have not got right in the current proposal is the loop timetable. They propose the loop to go to the train station starting 6AM. In the new scheme, I would have to catch the 5:34AM train – half-hour walk to the train station for me. I have put in a submission asking that they make the loop start at 5AM or something like that.
You start work at 630?
7 – and with the trip up from Britomart, 5:34 works. The 5:53 train from Pukekohe would get me here a few minutes late, but if I waited for the 6AM loop, and catch whatever train that is – about 6:15?? – I would be to work after 7:30.
jj
Well how about you get off of the train at newmarket and then catch a frequent bus to the uni, also at Pukekohe end are you near the route that goes to Papakura?
I doubt Newmarket would make any significant difference. In Pukekohe I am about half an hour’s walk from the station.
jj
You doubt that getting off of the train 10 minutes earlier with the same length of trip to the uni would help?
It would save 10 minutes.
Also, If you are currently catching the bus through Papakura then you must be close enough to the route to walk to it, so you would still be able to catch that to Papakura and then transfer.
Sorry, I meant that, because the 6:15 (from Pukekohe) train would still get me to work much too late. My bus at the moment gets me there late – about 7:10 – and the boss grumbles a bit but wears it. My point is that when they stop buses from Pukekohe to Papakura, which is what is proposed, I would have to catch either the 5:34AM train from Pukekohe, or, at least, the 5:53AM. But the proposed Pukekohe loop bus wouldn’t start until 6AM. So wherever I got off in Auckland, I would still be massively late to work. Catching the 5:34 train works fine, from Britomart as well, no doubt, as from Newmarket. The problem is in Pukekohe. I can walk to the station, but would prefer to get there quicker. That’s why I said that I had put in my submission that they should have an earlier loop bus to meet the earlier train.
jj
Sorry, I had thought that the P4 was continuing to Papakura. Definitely think all routes should start 5-530 in the morning though!
PS – FWIW, that 5:34 train, though far from crowded, has plenty of riders. Typically in my carriage there might be 20+ by the time we get to Britomart.
jj
Those loops should all be pulse timed to meet at the station for every train departure, and leave again after the next train arrival.
That means the first buses should be on the road twenty minutes before the first train.
Agree. I hope they will do something like that. You need to be sure to arrive at the station at least 2-3 minutes before the departure time, in order to have time to tag on.
jj
Yes, ideally you’d timetable in about four or five minutes before so that any minor delays don’t become an issue.
That sounds fair enough. The loop should be coordinated so that you always have a bus meeting a train.
That is one thing that works well with the Bayswater Ferry. There is always a bus to meet each ferry – as long as you are on the 803 bus you will make the ferry.
Waiting for a pic of the AmBUSador…
Would it be better to have the one way loops alternative direction each time or not? For someone that lives one quarter of the way around the loop it is irritating to have to take a distance three time longer one way than the other. They should probably turn the direction of the blue loop the other way around so that Harris Road has services in both directions rather than two in the same direction. I see they’ve done this on Seddon Road (possibly by accident?)
I think these loops are short enough that it doesn’t really matter. Remember that it’s only the long way in one direction, on the way back you get the quick one. Problem with alternating is that these are fairly infrequent, if you wait for the alternating loop its twice as infrequent.
The problem as I see is that all three loops go through the ring road and Manukau road and meet at the railway bridge. Depending on the time of the day (ie school going in or out: both high school and intermediate school) this point is a pinch point in traffic flow. through the town. May need some traffic and on road parking management better than currently exists to ensure buses always meet trains.
I see that the main challenge for improving bus services in Pukekohe is the town’s disastrous urban form.
Why can’t Waiuku be connected to the rail network at Paerata, using the Glenbrook and Vintage Steam lines? A steam commuter train would be a tourist attraction.
Poor old Tuakau misses out. One bus a day is it?. Helensville has a smaller population than Tuakau but has a bus every two hours!
When the area grows they could send the diesel shuttle chugging down to Tuakau and Pokeno, since the lines passes through both towns.
The issue with both Tuakau and Pokeno is they aren’t in the Auckland Region so therefore AT understandably have little interesting in spending money on them when that money could go to serving people who live within the Auckland Region.
Still nothing to Tuakau?
That’s a good example of communities being neglected when they’re out on arbitrary boundary fringes. Just like when Otahuhu was on the edge of the former Auckland city boundary and the more vocal wealthier suburbs got the spoils.
Good to see that the bus interchange will move next to the train station. Bus priority at the intersection with Manukau Road and pedestrian access from the town centre are two big issues that AT should have outlined in the proposal.
Option 3 between Waiuku and Pukekohe seems like the best value out of the three routes, but Option 1 should also be introduced and the current Papakura-Pukekohe bus service should be retained.
I made this to explain Tuakau buses to my friend from Tuakau since the one merged in the Pukekohe timetable is pathetic: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G_du5fTJKHzWa9gq9s9NjRZj1HxqA491dOEp0c_wzAs
There are additional services that run on Wednesday and also the Port Waikato buses that run on Thursday that go via Tuakau but they are not worth mentioning if what you require is every weekday work-schedule-based travel.
Out of Tuakau, Port Waikato and Waiuku I would currently rate them as:
Tuakau: 1st: 2 per day per direction weekday only services
Waiuku: 2nd: 1 per day per direction (Waikuku->Town only) weekday only services
Port Waikato: 3rd: 2 per Thursday per direction
Surely as Waiuku gets an upgrade to reasonable rural services as part of the consultation so should Port Waikato (which run via Tuakau), im sure if AT proposed something to Waikato Council they would be happy to have it, but they are not, it should be a part of this consultation IMHO.