More route simplification – New North Road

It was very useful to see the discussion that my post on simplifying the Sandringham Road bus routes generated, generally more on the positive side that we need to focus on creating a system that is easy to understand and which has good frequencies and connectivity; rather than a system that has a tonne of routes that run once a day, but might provide you with an option that requires less of a walk to get there.…
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The need to simplify bus routes

A key aspect of ‘the network effect’, which I have blogged about quite a lot in recent times, is the need to simplify route structures. Auckland’s current bus system looks very much like someone threw spaghetti at a map, a million different routes going all over the place – with the key thing being that because there are so many bizarre routes, they can only be run at fairly low frequencies.…
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Getting the “QTN” right

As I noted in a recent post about ARTA’s “Regional Public Transport Plan“, I support much of the thinking behind their three tiered hierarchical route structure that they are seeking to achieve, which has three main levels: A backbone Rapid Transit Network (RTN) which is comprised of railway lines and busways; A middle-level “Quality Transit Network” (QTN) which supports the RTN by providing high quality public transport in areas the RTN can’t reach – in short extensive bus lanes with high frequency services (in my mind at least); The supporting Local Connector Network (LCN), which are our more typical buses, but probably running shorter routes to feed into the RTN or QTN.…
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The importance of “off-peak”

A couple of weeks ago I got to meet Jarrett Walker, the guy behind the excellent “Human Transit” blog. We had a number of transport geeks in the same room, and unsurprisingly the result was a pretty interesting conversation. There was one thing in particular that Jarrett mentioned, which I think is certainly worth repeating, and that is: “the quality of a public transport system should be measured by how it performs at 7pm on a Sunday night, rather than at peak hour.”…
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Street Patterns Matter

Humantransit has a great post on cul-de-sacs and what is known as the “radius of demand”. In short, the post highlights how disconnected street networks make it much more difficult to adequately serve areas with good public transport, because what should be a relatively short walk ‘as the crow flies’, becomes a really long walk to the bus stop/train station because the street network won’t allow you to make the trip in a more direct manner.…
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Manukau-Botany QTN

Another interesting part of the information I got from NZTA via my OIA request relates to the public transport upgrades being planned for Manukau City – in particular the steps being taken to implement a “Quality Transport Network” (QTN) between Manukau City and Botany Town Centre.…
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Transport, urban form and health

The Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) has released a very interesting study into the linkages between urban environments and wellbeing, entitled Healthy Places, Healthy Lives: urban environments and wellbeing. During my university studies I did quite a lot of research into what we call “Health Geography” – looking at how different environments affect different health outcomes.…
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Auckland vs Vancouver

One particularly interesting element of the NZTA Research Report into creating better public transport networks that has been the focus of a few posts recently is the comparison made between Auckland and Vancouver. While Vancouver is a larger city than Auckland, with a population of over 2 million, as the graph below shows there are a number of similarities in terms of its urban density and the strength of its CBD (in terms of its regional share of employment) that would show it to be a good test case for looking at what Auckland ‘could’ be.…
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