Category: News

A News Post on something that has happened

March Madness

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City Still Reeling from Thursday’s Motorway Disaster

 

I am still seeing reports all over the main stream media and social media on the traffic chaos from Thursday’s crash on the Newmarket Viaduct right in the afternoon peak. Pretty much the city is still reeling from what can be described as an absolute disaster as buses, cars and trucks were basically going nowhere in Central Auckland. In the end walking and trains (for those who could use them) proved to be the fastest method of transit on Thursday afternoon.

 

The Herald ran a piece this morning on the Thursday disaster:

From the NZ Herald:

Forecast: More traffic chaos ahead

By Mathew Dearnaley

5:30 AM Saturday Mar 9, 2013

Auckland’s worst traffic gridlock for years was caused by an extra squeeze of pressure on a stretched transport network – and it is not over yet.

Although the city has struggled through its busiest traffic week of the year, culminating in Thursday’s chaos after a serious crash closed all four southbound lanes of the main motorway out of town, Auckland Transport warns of a difficult weekend.

It is urging Aucklanders and their visitors to consider using public transport or share car rides with friends or neighbours as hundreds of thousands of people throng to a raft of events over the weekend.

Commuters stewed in traffic queues over three successive afternoons, but the longest were caused by the cascading impact of a 2-hour closure of Newmarket Viaduct’s southbound carriageway at the height of Thursday’s peak travel period.

The viaduct is the country’s busiest section of motorway, normally carrying 7000 southbound vehicles an hour during afternoon peaks, and the closure from a serious crash could not have come at a worst time for what the Transport Agency acknowledges is a highly sensitive urban traffic network.

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Not only that, but Auckland Transport says this was already the busiest traffic week of the year, as students hasten to the first classes of term joined other commuters trying to make an earnest start back at work from the summer holidays.

The phenomenon known as “March madness” happens every year, and tends to ease off after the first frenzied week, but Automobile Association traffic spokesman Phil Allen says he has never seen a worst example of gridlock than on Thursday afternoon.

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You can read the rest over at the Herald

 

The point I am raising here is that unless we get on top of the transport situation, Thursday is only going to repeat itself more often and will absolutely cripple the city as we move towards two million people.

This week alone I had written several transport related posts that interlink to Thursday’s chaos:

SOUTHERN MOTORWAY GRIDLOCK – Bring Back the Eastern Highway?

A post on how if the Eastern Highway and the Botany Line were built in 2004, a fully operational and high-capacity back up route for trucks, buses, cars and trains (the trains tapping into the currently unreached East Auckland) in and out of the CBD bypassing State Highway one could have alleviated some if not a lot of the mess from a blocked State Highway One

 

PATRONAGE BELOW FORECAST – Rail Patronage Some Millions Below Forecast

This touched on an interview on Radio NZ with Auckland Transport Chair Dr Lester Levy and how rail patronage is going to be some two and a half million passenger trips below forecast ending June 30. Full trains mean an easier run on the motorway, empty trains as they currently are mean a blocked State Highway one – and I have seen both situations.

 

This weekend would have been a perfect opportunity to showcase our public transport system with an absolute diverse range of events including Pasifika Festival in Western Springs and Around the Bays tomorrow which bring out countless residents and visitors today. You would think rather than operate our infrequent weekend timetables today, Auckland Transport would go out of their way and actually run a full Friday timetable for buses and trains to help getting people out of cars and freeing up the roads. Further more you think our fares would be affordable to also get people into public transport. This means actually selling the old Rail Family Pass right across the rail network rather than Britomart, Newmarket and New Lynn; and allow that Pass to be used freely on bus shuttles from Britomart and Morningside to Western Springs for Pasifika. I even called on AT for reasons why this is not happening:

  1. and @AklTransport any reason why Rail Ticket Inspectors not selling the old Family Pass up and down the entire network today?

  2. Ben Ross ‏@BenRoss_AKL

    @AklTransport any reason why we are not operating Friday Train and Bus Timetables today with the amount of events on.#repeatingthursday?

 

Perfect opportunity today for public transport – wasted! Lord help any one on the roads today if they back up…

 

Moving on

 

GOING FORWARD – Progress

This post mentioned that despite Thursday I can feel confident and excited on a new leaf being turned for our transport system – for the better. That this new leaf and evolution will be led by private citizen initiatives rather than public civic institution led and that in time Auckland will actually have an integrated transport system that we all understand.

 

 

What will my next commentary be on March 25? I wonder with Auckland’s Transport

 

Patronage Below Forecast

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Rail Patronage Some Millions Below Forecast

 

No wonder why I was asked for the Auckland public transport patronage statistics in the weekend, an article has popped up on Radio New Zealand talking explicitly about how total public transport patronage (so across all modes) is going to be something like 3.6 million under forecast for the Financial Cycle with rail making up two million of that shortfall as of current. And no I was not talking to Radio NZ, someone else had asked.

You can listen to the article here from Radio NZ

 

I could go into a whole spiel from what was said in the article but that is wasting pixels while I am busy with a project at the moment regarding P/T.

However if one wants a quick recap on some grumbles that cause patronage to fall out through the floor then check these two recent articles from the blog:

 

One last thing when listening to the radio article, see if you can pick up on why the Fare Review I mentioned in my ‘Fare Rise on Auckland Rail’ post did not become public when it was meant to. Case of oops applies in that case 😉

LGOIMA Request Approved

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Request into Rail Punctuality Etc  has been Approved

 

 

Good news folks. I had filed a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request to Auckland Transport on rail: punctuality, reliability, extensive patronage breakdown for the December-January period. This LGOIMA request was filed as the recent AT Statistics papers for the December 2012 – January 2013 were missing those particular figures that have been in previous statistics reports.

 

And go figure, guess what just got pointed to me by Auckland Transport Blog: those figures I asked for – stuck up on the AT website apparently yesterday after the meeting when not many of us would have being paying attention (The Board meeting was on Monday, today is Thursday).

 

Well thanks to pdfs and Scribd, here are those real figures for your inspection:

December 2012 – January 2013 Public Transport Figures – including: punctuality, reliability, and patronage by Line

 

 

Got no idea what AT are trying to hide as while punctuality still sucks, it is actually improving slowly but surely. Only problem is those rail patronage figures are still of major cause to be of concern.

Happy Reading

 

 

THE MANUKAU INTERCHANGE – Work Resumed?

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Work Resumed on the Stalled MIT and Manukau Transport Interchange Building?

 

 

Last Friday before heading to up north for a spectacular weekend away chill-laxing I popped in Manukau to do some last-minute shopping (as you do). As I was coming down State Highway One to approach the Manukau turn-off I noticed the Mainzeal crane was actually working at the MIT and Manukau Transport Interchange site. I thought to myself; “Okay, have we started again?” As I have covered in previous posts such as the “THE MANUKAU INTERCHANGE – FROM THE HILL” work has stalled at the site leaving the place like a mess and an eye sore.

 

Here are the recent photos from the site with the crane actually working

2013-02-22 12.55.04

 

 

2013-02-22 12.54.59

 

Click pictures for full resolution

 

So a good sign that the crane was working and workers milling around? In this case it is a no. I went up to the fence at the site entrance to have a closer look and saw no construction trucks of any kind. What was happening is that the crane was lifting down portable generators and other construction equipment into trucks and the subsequent equipment being taken off site.

Umm not so good as that means the site is now pretty much abandoned with a small squad of security guards posted at the entrance gate keeping a watch. It also means Auckland Transport will not be opening their new transport interchange at the same site in June (which was already a delayed date – the interchange was meant to be open next month) if I read their February Board Meeting Agenda properly.

 

To add a new twist to this I am reading that the Auckland Council Governing Body is having its meeting at the Manukau Civic Building which is where I had my RPTP hearing earlier AND is right next to the MIT site. Now is the mayor and councillors going to take the train from Britomart to Manukau Station (which is under the MIT building site) and back again for this meeting or they going to chicken out and take cars? While at the Civic Building I wonder if George, Sharon and Dick will take the rest of the Governing Body to the MIT eye sore and show the rest of the Councillors and Mayor what South Auckland is currently lugged with. I might show up as the tour guide just to emphasis a point to boot.

 

Regular updates from the Manukau Interchange will occur until the building is finally complete. In the meantime it really does look like an eye sore from the outside AND inside…