Another month and another good patronage result from Auckland Transport – particularly for rail. Patronage in April is naturally down on the madness that is March due to the combination of a 30 day month, ANZAC day, Easter and School Holidays/Uni holidays. This year was no different although there ended up being the same number of working days as April 2014. Overall patronage for the month edged up 3.7% compared to April 2014 however there is quite some variation between the modes.
The real focal point – as it has been for many months now – has been the stellar growth in rail patronage. In April it hasn’t disappointed, up almost 16% compared to April 2014 and up 22% annually and even more for both measures if normalised to take account of the differences e.g. events. To put things in perspective, 12 months ago the annual patronage on the rail network was just under 11.1 million trips, now it’s over 13.5 million. That means it remains well on track to exceed the government’s patronage targets for the CRL some time during 2017/18. It’s also worth noting that AT have now upped their projection for this financial year (end of June) to suggest that we’ll reach 13.8 million trips
In some ways I think AT are lucky that achieved the results they did given that operational performance was so bad achieving just 68.4% of services arriving within 5 minutes of schedule.
With buses the Northern Express continues to perform well and was up over 8.5% for the month and 17% for the year once again showing it’s the Rapid Transport Network is where the most growth is happening. Other buses were actually down slightly although a reason for this isn’t given.
Ferries have had surprisingly strong growth of late and were up almost 15% for the month. AT suggest that a large part of the growth has some from the new Explore ferries.
Lastly a quick update to my post last week about train costs. In it I included a chart showing that subsidies per passenger km were starting to decline on the rail network which is a good thing. The stats for this month show once again subsidies are reducing which will be the result of more and more electric trains coming in to service. In a few months I’d expect that line to be even lower too.
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No real surprise in the drop in “Frequent Connector and Local Bus” category. I’d like to see those two measured separately. For me, the biggest disappointment is the “Local Bus” category….as the services are often anything but frequent and reliably UNreliable. typically almost 50% of my journey time from Greenlane to Rosedale is the wait for the 555 at Constellation Station……to traverse a distance I can walk in 17 minutes, but prefer not to when it’s windy, warm or wet or all three. The 555 can be so late they simply drop a service and leave you to wait for the next one. During the middle of day it only runs hourly. There is little point having a fast, frequent core (NEX / rail) if you can’t actually get to / from it reliably other than by walking. The prospect of another 555 (as an example I know too well) disappointment sees me tending to drive my car more….and leave earlier…as I did this morning.
The 555 is a long route from Highbury to Albany, but it serves as a local connector for the route it covers.
That’s the biggest annoyance for me too, buses are just so unreliable. Furthermore, because there’s no time keeping along a route you never know if it’ll be early or late, so I’ve often arrived at a bus stop to find it’s already gone past. Less of an issue of course on places like Symonds Street where there are plenty of overlapping routes, but that situation is so rare. The AT Track My Bus app is helpful in this regards but frequently doesn’t work or states there are no more departures from a bus stop despite there being many more that day.
If you have an Android phone, this app (Auckland Transit
by dyancat apps ) kicks ass. It’s much better than the official app.
The “Find a Stop” to access real time boards for bus stops actually works and works really well. It doesn’t insist on looking up the last stop (I WAS there…..yes) before allowing you to change to a new one.
You can make easy favourites of bus stops and train stations.
You can look up real time boards for train stations listed in alphabetical order.
I love this app. It makes many services ‘feel’ more reliable just because it is so easy to see the real time info.
(Beware – Howick & Eastern buses – like the 580 – can be anywhere up to 5 minutes early WRT the real time board…..so if you wait until 3 minutes before the bus is to arrive to go to the stop, chances are it went past two minutes ago. Allow a minimum of 5 minutes lead time at which you point you must already be at the stop).
“Auckland Transit”
by -> dyancat apps – November 25, 2014
Top tip thanks. Unlike the official app, the map actually loads on this one.
Yes the AT app for iphone doesn’t even have the silverdale park n ride stops on it!
Agree on the “Auckland Transit” app, this one works pretty good.
There’s now 2 apps from AT.
The new “AT Metro Track My Bus” app works well for me, it can be handy if you’re catching a bus in an area you know well, it allows you to see on a map where the bus currently is. Or, if you want to know if it’s practical to catch a bus on a route you haven’t been before, you can figure this out by tracking that bus with this app.
And in case you’re wondering, this app actually works.
However, unfortunately for people waiting for a bus, or walking to a bus stop, the developers insist on not displaying the estimated time away. Which can be unreliable, but “3 stops away” often tells you nothing at all. Use the “Auckland Transit” app in that case.
And there’s the old ”AT Public Transport“ app. Haven’t used it since a long time now, but in my experience, this one basically didn’t work.
But their website is shocking bordering on useless.
I hear you on that one TSNZ! Constellation has some of the crappiest connections I have ever seen! Also no thought to timing either… ie Constellation/Apollo etc area is quite a large employer with chronic congestion issues yet the bus from Constellation bus station is scheduled to depart at 8:30am (ie the time that most people are supposed to be at work already), it is often late so getting to work before 8:45am is a struggle for most people. The walk is a good 10+ minutes meaning that it is outside of the target walk area. I have mentioned this to AT and suggested changing the bus time table to be 8:15am. The reply I got was that they won’t do anything about it until the new network comes in (whenever that will actually be). I can only imagine similar things happen at other places on the network too.
Same experience for me. If I’m within 15 minutes walk from a NEX station I won’t bother to look up other services.
Mainly because they come only hourly, so it may still be half an hour until the next bus. And then that bus is half an hour behind schedule. It’s the usual no bus lanes + heavy traffic problem.
Is there any specific stats on how the constant increase of bus passengers is measuring against actual available seats?
I catch a bus to Whangaparaoa from Victoria Park and I see more buses drive past full than buses that have capacity and are able to stop to board more passengers. I fear this is fast reaching (if not already reached) crisis point.
Agreed Barry, I know they are trying to get ready for the new network etc but surely adding an extra bus here and there to a route where needed under existing contract shouldn’t be a challenge!
The sooner they get those double decker buses on NEX services the better!
there are a number of factors that influence on time performance of the buses, the biggest is getting stuck in traffic. when there was a competition for the best ways to improve PT in Auckland, I suggested looking for small quick fix jobs that would speed up buses off the high capacity/priority routes, things like extending kerb side broken yellow lines at intersections. I still think that this idea has merit.
The other issue is unrealistic running times and inconsistent intermediate times along the route. On a route like the 880 you might be 10 minutes late at one check time, then 2 monutrd at the next. Surely AT has enough time data off the HOP system to start putting some reality into the timetables and contract amendments.
Agreed SteveC. Another measure that would increase the timetable reliability would be to give buses the right of way when rejoining traffic (as is done in many places overseas). In Auckland typically a bus can be waiting for up to a minute after picking up passengers trying to pull out into traffic. Even under existing rules some bus drivers really should be a little bit more “aggressive” in getting back into traffic (start moving and people will let you in rather than just letting car after car drive past). Another option would be to have “keep clear” areas adjacent to certain congested bus stops to allow buses to pull out right away.
don’t know where you are Bruce, but on the Shore drivers are generally pretty good at letting buses back into traffic and on lane changing on the motorway, you get the odd sphincter of course, but you get that anywhere
In Australia buses have a sign on their rear indicating that traffic must give way when the bus is indicating right (eg pulling out from a bus stop). When this sign is in place and the vehicle is indicating, it has the same legal weight as a Give Way sign. This law was introduced about 15 years ago and has been completely non-controversial. It’s great for speeding up buses.
Surely the bus companies can lobby for for this in NZ. Perhaps backed up by local councils could also lobby for (as a group).
Since so many trains are late, they should create bus lanes, but for trains. We could call them “train lanes”, and they would help ensure that trains never got stuck in traffic.
They have those, but they don’t really work because people are always parking their broken-down trains in the lanes, and the other trains get stuck behind them. Clearly we need better enforcement.
Frustrating thing is, we need the CRL *now*. Has anyone done a capacity analysis to determine what the max ridership is with the current system? I doubt it can accommodate a 50% increase, even if we use stuffers like they do on the Tokyo subways.
And even if they put shovels in the ground today, the thing won’t be running for a good 3 years. Just doing the construction drawings will take a good year. (Can you tell I’m frustrated?)
That’s exactly the point @stevenz, there’s much self-congratulation about growing the numbers (maybe rightly so) but not a lot of mention of how stretched the services currently are right here and now and how crappy an experience that makes it for everyone. From where I sit (or rather, stand) there is ZERO room for growth, on the Northern Busway at least.
Things could be improved on many services like the Inner and City Link by removing most of the seats and only having ones running parallel to the bus’ sides, creating more room for standing. That’s one service where most people are getting on and off frequently and there’s no need for so much seating.
Actually, I was in Tokyo earlier in the year, and for the most part the rush hour crush on the trains isn’t as bad as Auckland. (And the “shovers” do not actually shove anyone onto a train, though they might shove you out of the way of people trying to get off if you stand on the wrong part of the platform).
After all, even though it’s a bigger city, they’re running 6-10 car trains every 3 minutes or so, configured so most of the space is standing, with loads of different parallel lines. Whereas Auckland has two and a half lines, runs trains only every 15 minutes (on the Western Line), and standees have to crush into a few tiny aisles, often with nothing to hold on to.
The government’s early CRL start threshold is no longer relevant, as the four year lead time between giving the project go ahead and delivery of a TBM basically means main tunneling can’t start before 2020 anyway. But hopefully by that time AT will have advanced the cut and cover section enough so that the overall project timeframe is reduced, and we can ride through the CRL from around 2025 instead of 2027 as envisioned by the government.
The latest threshold report was issued in February:
http://www.transport.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Rail/City-Rail-Link-Third-Monitoring-Report.pdf
Sounds like bullshit to me Geoff. Got any source for the supposed four year lead time to procure a TBM?
Look at all the big tunneling projects, road and rail, around the world Nick. Three years at best, but generally four.
Our own Waterview was given the go-ahead in 2009, and tunneling began in 2014.
At the end of the day, very little can now be done to advance the government timeframe. Planning is well advanced, AT will be starting on the lower section next year, and tunneling will begin in 2020. At best, if the government changes their mind in the very near future, you might pull off a 2018 start on tunneling, but unlikely.
I just don’t think the timing is an issue any more. The different timeframes proposed are moving into alignment, and there’s very little that could be done to bring it forward by any significant amount.
The winning tender to construct the waterview tunnel was announced in August 2011. http://greaterakl.wpengine.com/2011/08/20/waterview-connection-contract-awarded/
The TBM arrived in Auckland in July 2013. http://www.nzta.govt.nz/about/media/releases/2717/news.html
That’s one year, eleven months.
Not only that but the waterview tunnels are huge (biggest diameter in Southern Hemisphere IIRC) they require a larger more complex machine so CRL in theory would take less lead time.
You understand tenders are not won on the same day a project is given the go-ahead? You also understand that TBM’s do not begin tunneling on the day they arrive? Fact is, from go-ahead to start of tunneling, was four and a half years. Most similar sized projects overseas are around the four year timeframe. Understandable when you consider that TBM’s have to be designed and built for each project, and that in itself takes years.
Best case scenario now for opening the CRL is about 2025, so hopefully they can achieve that over the government’s timeframe of a 2027-2028 opening.
NZTA said they ran a parallel tender process alongside the BOI process for waterview, and presumably both tenderers had already teed up the spec/cost of the TBM needed (or maybe the Government had), otherwise how could they quote the tender?
So once the winner was announced the TBM order could be confirmed then. From arrival on the boat, to first cut of Alice for tunnel boring took just under 4 months.
TBM for Waterview cut its first 2.5km tunnel in 10 months, and has been turned around and is now on the back journey, expected to finished September this year.
All up 22 months from first turn of cutting head to last turn of cutting head. And another 14 months of fitout, ventilation and cross tunnels before it opens.
And thats for a TBM thats tunnelling further and cutting way more material than CRL will need.
Both Mt Eden end and AOTEA station end will need to be built first as cut and cover trenches/boxes for the TBM to launch from/into, which will be done while TBM is being constructed.
So working backwards, Current best case is more actually late 2022, like this:
Government flip flops on CRL funding in 2017 to win election (or loses it), maybe earlier if the right wins mayoralty race September 2016.
Election must be held by 21 September 2017 and Key may go early again if he thinks he needs to, so could be earlier by a few months – immediately post budget?
So tender awarded in 2017, TB ordered shortly after and arrives by say October 2019, begins tunnelling early 2020, finishes by end of 2021.
Add time for track and cabling/signalling/tunnel ventilation and cross tunnels for fire safety – another 12 months – means tunnels finished and “driveable” through by train end of 2022.
Station cavity build for Crossrail (e.g. as needed for K Rd) happened before TBMs tunnelled through them, so in theory could you open CRL as a through link only with no K’Rd station yet and build it out after 2022.
The Britomart bottleneck will be very accute well before then.
In addition to Greg N, there’s no reason why the AT team managing the CRL build can’t start narrowing down design specs needed for the TBM in the coming year or two so that by the time funding is approved they can go straight to tender and the winner can then put an order in straight away. As Greg says there will be a period of time while they dig out the three stations while they wait for the TBM to arrive as regardless they can’t start boring the tunnels until they are ready.
Yes Geoff, but “the project getting go ahead” is completely arbitrary. It’s the award of the tender that starts work. And yes, I realise it takes a couple of months to set up, that still doesn’t turn a two year procurement timeframe into your four years. If AT opened the tender tomorrow it could easily be wrapped this year (they probably already have two consortia with bids ready to go), and the TBM could be boring by the end of 2017, and the line operational at the start of 2020.
Do bear in mind that TBM boring isn’t the critical path of the project either, they need to construct the junction and Aotea station pits before they can launch or retrieve the TBM, so they start work well before the drilling machine is even in the country.
Yes as was explained to me by an expert working on this very project with the phrase: Mining precedes tunnelling.
The station boxes are dug first [mined] and then the TBM is driven between them [tunnelled]. Mining then clearly needs to start well before any TBM turns up. There will be a lot of overlap between phases of construction. For example station fitouts and other elaborations continue concurrently with tunnelling, in order to be ready for commissioning of the track.
This is not an uncomplicated project and will take time, but there is only one real hold-up and that is the government’s worldview.
Which is fine, except that it misunderstands cities, new economic opportunities, and our times. So it goes.
The patronage numbers are good. The performance numbers, esp on the lines which are running electric trains are utterly unacceptable though
The performance numbers decline wherever they introduce EMU’s. Unfortunately the passenger operated door system really slows things down. Especially when the TM is about to lock the doors and a passenger hits the green button at the last moment it’s still lit. This causes the door/step opening process to begin and overrides the TM’s ability to lock the doors, so adding another 40 seconds or so to the dwell time.
Imagine if the doors at the entry to Britomart were pedestrian-operated! Automation speeds things up, so the best thing they could do now to improve station dwell times is get rid of the passenger operated door system, and just go with automatic opening and closing.
Best thing they could do is get rid of TMs and operate the system like the Swiss do with passenger operated doors and very short dwell times.
It’s the TMs who are still sitting down when the train comes to a stop and then leisurely wander over to the doors, blow their nose and then get around to releasing them. That’s the bottle neck not the passenger operated doors.
What bullocks. TM’s sitting down when the train has stopped, what having a smoke and a yarn? 99.9% of TM’s I see open the doors on non EMU’s straight away. AT’s lust to have single manned trains are the reason this slow retrograde door system were fitted to the EMU’s in the first place, that’s the problem, not TM’s!
And this comparison I see from time to time comparing Swiss trains with NZ trains is like comparing the All Blacks to the Swiss equivalent, if there is one. Our railways are still in the swamp on an evolutionary scale with slow curvy tracks, lacking turn outs, lacking an efficient signalling system and an electronic train control system that hinders train movements, just for staters.
The slow curvy tracks is probably an area where Switzerland and NZ have much in common, a lot of their railways are slow and curvy because of the terrain. However, what I’m referring to is an operational matter and has nothing to do with the track state or speed of the train itself, and something quite easily replicated here. Your sporting analogy is also somewhat appropriate, if Switzerland were to ever decide to become a rugby-interested nation, then they’d certainly look to countries like NZ and look to implement the systems in use here to increase their competitiveness. It’s called looking to best practice countries and learning from them. NZ’s historic shortsightedness in running down the rail system doesn’t mean we shouldn’t now try and emulate Switzerland or Germany, countries that have invested in their railways and optimised their operating protocols. Minimising dwell time through removal of a redundant step i.e. TMs is a quick win, low hanging fruit, low-cost solution, whatever you want to call it.
Agreed BBC, drop the totally useless and time consuming step from the process. Have the driver lock and unlock the doors, and the passengers open and close them as necessary. That’s super quick. Driver unlocks right when they stop, and locks again in say 30 seconds, or a little longer if there observe an unusually high passenger load at a station. Passengers can open or close doors until they lock at which point they close automatically and you get underway. Yes that means passengers need to take some responsibility to be ready to get on or off in time, they can’t dawdle around or expect the train to wait if they aren’t ready. In more enlightened cities people get up when their stop is announced (or their train announced on the platform) and are stood in front of the door ready to go when the train stops.
No people walking on and off the platform blowing whistles and fiddling with keys, no people fiddling around with bags and getting up after the train is already stopped.
What nonsense. The TMs don’t even release the doors, the drivers do.
huh? You’ve never been on a train in Auckland I take it?
Whenever I’ve been on one of the electrics, there’s always some issue, ranging from minor bugs with no real importance (a destination screen not working or showing the wrong station) to being stuck on one for 90min with all systems (air con included) off. It feels like the trains have been introduced into complete use too quickly, and so entry to service bugs are not worked out before more services rely on them. Everything has entry to service bugs, it would be nice to see them worked out fully before all services rely on them.
The door delays do not help, especially the middle carriage. A retrofit for faster doors could be an idea.
In the long term, hopefully the flexibility of a single-type fleet will work out in favour of network reliability and cost. Not sure why there are always EMUs sitting at the Strand though, when so many services are delayed, or why those scheduling insist on sending empty trains to the yard (eg, two trains left Britomart empty last week about 7pm, with no other services heading out for 45min. Could they not have run as passenger services as far as the station before the depot?)
It isn’t possible to send off a Strand replacement along the same track that a disabled unit is sitting on. The blockage needs to be cleared just to allow the scheduled services behind it to run unimpeded. With only one track each way for the majority of the network, sorting breakdowns can’t be easy. This isn’t even taking into account the lack of drivers.