Auckland has been ranked as ‘one of the most liveable cities of the world’ in many surveys measuring quality of life.
But the City, which is home to more than 1.5 million people, also has its challenges, the most formidable of which is transportation.
Aucklanders spend hours stuck in traffic every day and the poor record of public transport leaves them hesitant to leave their cars at home.
Amidst growing campaigns to promote public transport and ideas like the ‘Inner- City Rail Loops,’ the ‘Northern Busway’ is a shining example of effective and successful public transport network.
Launched in 2008, the 6.2 kilometre long exclusive bus transport lane runs from Constellation Station on the North Shore to Smales Farm.
The city-bound buses start their journey from the bus station in Albany.
A well-maintained station with ample free parking ensures that patrons service have an incentive to board the bus without having to take a 17-kilometre journey from Albany to the City.
Reasonable cost
The cost of travel in these buses is reasonable compared to driving a car and parking in the City. The frequency and reliability of the buses is excellent, especially during peak hours, with a bus available every three minutes.
The success of this Busway, which has reportedly carried more than 10 million passengers since its launch, has prompted extension of hours of service.
Plans are afoot to extend the Busway further up north, covering Orewa and Silverdale.
The Busway faces a number of challenges, including paucity of parking space at all stations. The bus stops at Constellation, Sunnynook and Smales Farm stations, which can dissuade many passengers from using the service.
The general notion around New Zealand is that Aucklanders love their cars and detest bus services.
But the Northern Busway tells a different story.
Replacing cars
Our Staff Reporter adds:
According to Wikipedia, the Northern Busway was officially opened in February 2008 after several years of construction, though the two northernmost stations had been operating since December 2005 using the normal Northern Motorway lanes.
It was credited with having reduced peak traffic on the Northern Motorway by around 500 cars each rush hour one month after the opening, and about 39% of passengers on the ‘Northern Express’ bus service had never used public transport earlier.
The Busway was initially used by 70 buses per hour during peak time, which included both existing and new services like the ‘Northern Express’.
With its completion, the Busway started to raise interest amongst technical experts as well as other groups. There have been advertisements filmed at the bus stations and requests to allow filming of car commercials on the Busway (a request denied as being inappropriate for a public transport facility) and interest from overseas movie location scouts wanting to use the ‘futuristic’ stations as backdrops.
Awards of Excellence
In 2008, the Busway received the ‘Shell Bitumen Excellence Award for a Major Roading Project’ and the ‘Roading New Zealand Supreme Award’.
In June 2009, it received the ‘Ingenium Excellence Award’ (in the ‘Projects above $2 million Construction Cost’ category).
The Busway carried its five-millionth passenger in June 2010. The patronage figures have kept rising, and as of 2010, the Busway is estimated to have removed from the route an equivalent of about 5100 cars in the morning peak, with 80 buses per hour during peak hours.
By mid-2011, frequencies of Northern Express buses had risen to one every three minutes during the morning peak hour and five minutes during the ‘shoulder peak’ hours.
Apurv Shukla is a contributor with wide interests.
