Transport Issues

I am a passionate believer in people and commodities being able to move freely, efficiently, and economically throughout the city combining the best of private and public transport.

We have a highly dysfunctional transport system in Auckland.

In public transport there is vast waste of capital and human resources through duplication of routes, inefficient timetables, bad placement of bus stops, lack of priority lanes and traffic lights for buses, and a dysfunctional roading system. There is also vast excess of noise and emission pollution, and wasted time.

Responsibility for this must rest with ARTA and the Auckland Regional Council.  ARTA are spending millions on long term ‘grand plans’ for public transport while forcing Aucklanders to endure the dysfunctional grossly over expensive current system..

I believe the system could be improved dramatically within a very limited time frame.

Supermaxx for a Supercity is the immediate answer for a great leap forward!!

For full details go to Supermaxx.

Newmarket Station

Once again ARTA are proving their incompetence in their decision to close Kingdon St station in Newmarket (NZ Herald 24/12/09)

The new Newmarket station could have and should have been built over the old triangle where southern and western lines meet, as part of a shopping/office/apartment complex. Costs would have been reduced by $20-$30 million and a vastly more operationally efficient station built. The location of the new station builds inefficiency, extra operating cost, and congestion into the rail system for the next 50-80 years or as long as the new  Newmarket station lasts.

To claim that westbound trains using the new station will only add approximately 30 seconds to their journey (as claimed by Sharon Hunter of ARTA in the NZ Herald 24/12/09) is totally specious. The trains have to leave the western line, travel into Newmarket on the Southern line which will cause congestion and inconvenience. The driver then has to close down his cab at one end, walk to the opposite end, open up his cab there, and head back on the southern line to join the Western Line. This will add an extra 3-4 minutes onto each journey. Every passenger travelling between the west and Britomart will be seriously disadvantaged and rail travel will become less attractive. Many passengers will not like doing part of their journey facing forwards, and part facing backwards. The suggestion that the gradient from Kingdon St is a problem for westbound trains is nonsense and will be totally irrelevant once the electric trains arrive, which may even be in the 50-80 year lifetime of the new Newmarket station!

Update 6th February 2010. OOPS IT SEEMS I WAS WRONG!!! The average extra time on each westbound train is more like 4-5 minutes. At congestion times it is taking 6-8 minutes

KINGDON ST STATION SHOULD BE RE- OPENED if there is to be any efficiency in the system. New steps (and possibly a covered escalator) can be built from the station to Davis Crescent at the Broadway end of the station.

Before that is done however ARTA, ONTRACK (or an organisation vastly more competent) should call immediately for 'expressions of interest' from any developer wishing to develop a shopping/office/apartment complex over the old triangle. Land and air space would be provided free of charge and resource consents expedited for a 10-15 storey building in return for providing two platforms on the ground level for westbound trains with escalators and lifts to the second level which would provide a shopping mall and easy open access between the platforms and connected to the new Newmarket station for Southbound connections. The lower level basic building would be provided free of charge to ontrack however laying of tracks and fitting out to be a functional rail station would be providied by Ontrack.

While 'developing' has lost some of its attractiveness I  believe that the opportunity of building on prime real estate would still be attractive to some. Ongoing rentals and rates from the building would more than pay for the maintenance and cleaning of the station.

(Update 6th February, 2010) I understand that in fact the air space above the western and southern line junction has already been sold. Another opportunity lost by ARTA, Ontrack,  and the Auckland City Council to achieve something worthwhile.

THE DYSFUNCTIONAL NATURE OF THE DESIGN OF THE NEWMARKET STATION WAS POINTED OUT BY ME DIRECTLY TO BOTH ARTA AND ONTRACK AT AN OPEN DAY IN PARNELL ON THE 3RD NOVEMBER, 2007!!

 HELENSVILLE EXPERIMENT

ARTA have wasted around $1 million on the Helensville experiment which should never have been introduced, as I pointed out to Mike Lee when the service was first announced. Trains are only cost effective as 'mass movers' of people, and there is no mass of people in Helensville to be moved. For ARTA to suggest that they may now operate some services to Huapai and Waimauku to 'utilise the money spent on upgrading the stations there" is outrageous. The money is wasted. Cut the losses and write it off. On a general demographic basis no passenger trains should be operated beyond Henderson on the Western Line. However as the number of trains needed for a regular 10 or 20 minute frequency is not increased by extending to Swanson this should be done as proposed in Supermaxx . NO TRAINS SHOULD OPERATE BEYOND SWANSON. Supermaxx "LOCAL" bus connections can be provided to Waitakere and beyond at vastly less cost.     

INTEGRATED TICKETING

The capital cost of the Integrated Ticketing Contract as organised by ARTA has been reduced by approximately $33 million. I believe that this in part, if not in whole, is due to an investigation done by the Auditor General at my request earlier this year. (I am still waiting for my 1% thank you fee from the ARC for saving the ratepayers of Auckland and taxpayers of New Zealand this amount and  this does not even take into account the reduced operating costs). It is still however vastly more expensive and complex than it needs to be. Under Supermaxx the cost would be reduced to about $10 million.

380 BUS SERVICE MANUKAU - PAPATOETOE RAIL - AIRPORT                                           It is over two years since ARTA introduced the 380 bus service providing services every 30 minutes for most of the day between Manukau City, Papatoetoe town and rail, and the airport. This is a highly subsidised service operated at vast expense to the ratepayers and taxpayers.  Patronage after more than 2 years averages 4.2 passengers per service. I was staggered to find in the early stages that no timetable had been produced showing integrated services of train and bus between the CBD and airport. TWO YEARS LATER THIS IS STILL THE CASE!

No one in the CBD knows that this is the cheapest way to the airport for backpackers, workers etc.

Very few if any Senior Citizens know that they can get to and from the airport free of charge on their Gold Cards outside the morning week day rush hours. No driving hassles  and no exhorbitant airport parking fees.  

SUMMARY

The gross waste of money and the general incompetence of ARTA shown in the above issues along with the continued dysfunctional nature of Auckland's bus and train scheduling and bloated bus company contracts give me no confidence that we will achieve a public transport system of the highest possible quality at the lowest possible cost under the present regime. It will be a tragedy for Auckland if the current management and operatives of ARTA are employed in the new Auckland Transport Authority.

WE DO NOT NEED BUS AND TRAIN FARE INCREASES JUST A  VASTLY MORE COMPETENT ORGANISATION OF OUR PUBLIC TRANSPORT.