Category: Transport Planning

Looking at Transport Planning and Design

Back From Hearing Panel

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Returned from RPTP Panel

 

First of all: A thank you to Councillor Mike Lee and the other panel members for taking time in listening to my presentation

 

I have arrived back from my presentation to the Auckland Transport Regional Public Transport Plan hearings panel this afternoon. I am pleased to say that the full ten minutes plus two extra ( 😉 ) were productive and a dialogue entered on:

  • the relocation of Te Mahia and Takanini Stations to Spartan Road and Walters Road (Technically Glenora Road but for now Walters Road has stuck as the rallying name) 
  • The Family Pass not being easily accessible

 

The presentation was designed in such a way that hyperlinks (in blue) were placed into the paper copies that allow the panel members or their assistants to look up ‘extended information’ (which is stored in this blog) on points I was making (the idea of the presentation was to sum up the main points and entered into dialogue – mission accomplished).

The presentation can be seen here:

 

After the presentation (actual) dialogue was entered to on two main points (there was a third point but that was me reinforcing the Manukau South Rail Link which by the looks of it has “a-lot” of support in South and Counties Auckland (basically everyone south of Manukau through to Pukekohe):

  • the relocation of Te Mahia and Takanini Stations to Spartan Road and Walters Road (Technically Glenora Road but for now Walters Road has stuck as the rallying name) 
  • The Family Pass not being easily accessible

 

Walters Road and Spartan Road Stations

In my presentation I had emphasised the point on closing Takanini and Te Mahia Stations and relocating them to Spartan Road and Glenora Road (Walters Road is the rallying name). The two new stations would be equipped with facilities such as a bus interchange for feeder buses and Park ‘N’ Ride. The panel nodded away and picked up on the strong emphasis on the Park and Rides at all stations south of Manukau (basically). I was questioned on the Park and Rides and my belief of them being integral to a fully integrated transit system.

My answer was that I use the Park and Ride at Papakura and would do so at the Glenora (Walters) Road Station when built. I further went on and said the further away we get from the inner suburbs, the lower density housing we have, and we also have rural communities coming into effect as well.  As a result feeder buses will do well up to a range of a 2km radius from a station (if run at a high enough frequency) but due to the nature of suburbia and all things rural south of Manukau (I was focusing on South Auckland); Park and rides extend the range of the station literally to an unlimited range.

For example a Park and Ride at Glenora Road would allow those as far as Clevedon to come in by car, park, and catch a train to town, Manukau, or even out west. A fully fledged Park and Ride at Pukekohe would allow (even more) residents from Waikau to come in by car then piggy back by train from Pukekohe to town and back again as happens now. Park and Rides also give maximum flexibility to bus or rail users that allow patrons to rock up to the station in their own time then continue the trip by bus or train (which is why I use Park and Rides). But at the end of the day feeder-buses, and Park and Rides both have their places especially as you go further out away from the CBD into suburbia and even more rural communities. This is the point I was bringing across to Auckland Transport this afternoon.

More on the station relocations can be found in my THE RAIL EFFICIENCY PROGRAM #5A post

 

The Family Pass not being easily accessible

This point took up most of the allocated time session in regards to dialogue between myself at the AT panel members. Councillor Mike Lee – who is also an Auckland Transport Board “Director” led the questions on the consequences of the scaling back on the availability of the rail Family Pass. The basic sum up of my answers can be found in my “FAMILY PASS HARD TO GET” post but basically the following was observed:

  • Notice was given in a publicity drive before AT-HOP was rolled out in September 2012 about the scaling back the accessibility of the Family Pass
  • Family Passes were available on the trains at their designated times as well as ticket offices before AT-HOP
  • After AT-HOP Family Passes are now available only at the four (soon to be five) ticket offices but not on any of the 57 (approx) blue Rail Ticket Machines
  • Complaints rolled into Veolia about the scaling back of the accessibility of the Family Pass as soon as the publicity started one-month prior to AT-HOP
  • Veolia front line staff were at pains having to explain to passengers trying to explain the decision a logic behind Auckland Transport scaling back the accessibility of the Family Pass
  • It is believed verbal abuse claims rose initially after the removal of the Family Pass from the trains but not available from the ticket machines
  • Patronage in the weekend and off-peak slipped considerably especially on the Eastern Line (via Sylvia Park) due to removal of the Family Pass (and Day Rover)
  • I mentioned that in school holidays; Eastern Line trains were full when the Family Pass was readily available (everyone going to Sylvia Park), however now you would be lucky to get near 1/3 full currently with the Family Pass scaled back
  • I thus mentioned the HAS to be an option on the Rail Ticket Machines – with maximum publicity to get the Off-Peak and Weekend patronage back up again

 

So the questions were asked, the answers given to AT in person for all to hear and transcribe.

 

Now it is a case of we wait and see what happens.

 

To me personally and above all else right now – having the Family Pass option installed on the Rail Ticket Machines would make me the most happy 😀

 

As I said – we now wait and see – but I have done all I can folks!

 

Giving A Damn – About Auckland

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For Auckland

Because I Live Here Too…

 

At 1400 hours today (2pm) I will be at the Manukau Civic Centre (the old Manukau City Council Building) giving my three-minute presentation then hopefully 7-minutes of dialogue with the four member Auckland Transport RPTP Hearings Panel.

 

The writing of submissions and showing up at hearings has basically become a “tradition” here since my first comprehensive submission (The Auckland Plan) in 2011. The question that begs to be asked is “Why?”

 

The answer is simple:

Because I live here too – and I give a damn about my home (Auckland) no matter what silly buggers Council can get up to 😛

 

So I thought I would show case some of my work over the last two years in participating widely in the democratic process on wanting and making Auckland a better place:

 

I will let readers know how the Regional Public Transport Plan presentation went later on today or early tomorrow morning

 

BEN ROSS : AUCKLAND

Shining The Light – To a Better Papakura (OUR home)
AND
To a Better Auckland – (OUR City)

Auckland 2013: YOUR CITY – YOUR CALL

 

 

 

 

Road Plan Concerns

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South Eastern “Bypass” Causing Concern – In South Auckland

 

I had seen this particular article crop up yesterday in the Herald in regards to the Redoubt Road – Mill Road Corridor

Being that the said corridor is both close to home (being in Papakura and five minutes away from the southern end of the soon-mentioned corridor) and I often use to skip-pass a section of the Southern Motorway when it backs up (usually in the afternoons) BR:AKL will take a look at the situation, then later on post an alternative proposal to the scheme.

 

The Map on Page 331 of The Auckland Plan shows the corridor and area of land in question:

AP Transport Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click for Full Resolution

 

From the Herald article from our resident Transport Reporter – Mathew Dearnaley, there is a bit of upset from residents in the corridor area.

From The NZ Herald

Bypass plan horrifies residents

By Mathew Dearnaley

Hundreds of homes are in the firing line of a new arterial road for South Auckland – of which the first section alone is costed at almost $250 million.

Auckland Transport says about 260 properties, many of them along Redoubt Rd above Manukau, are in the path of the first stage of what it ultimately envisages as a 32km eastern bypass of the Southern Motorway to Drury.

The council organisation revealed last night a cost estimate of $246 million for the 9.2km section from Manukau and Flat Bush to Alfriston east of Manurewa, parallel with Mill Rd – including $66 million for property purchases – although it has yet to hazard a price for the full project.

Only $82 million is allocated for the next 10 years, and the project could take twice that time to complete.

But it intends seeking a route designation for the first section from the council’s planners by the end of next month, and says it is powerless to stop landowners from building new homes until then.

The plan has horrified residents of the historic Redoubt Ridge, through which Auckland Transport intends carving a road corridor up to 30m wide, past a remodelled junction with a widened Murphys Rd running from Flat Bush.

Redoubt Rd resident Raewyn Roberts, spokeswoman for an action committee to fight the proposal, yesterday called on Auckland Transport to avoid destroying what remained of a valuable ecological corridor from Murphys Bush to Totara Park and beyond.

She said it should instead press the Government’s Transport Agency to widen the Southern Motorway and alleviate a serious bottleneck caused by what she called a poorly-designed new connection with the Southwestern Motorway.

Long delays on the motorway were prompting many drivers to turn off at Manukau and head up Redoubt Rd, causing safety concerns which she accused Auckland Transport of exploiting to strengthen its case for a bypass.

Meetings held by Auckland Transport had reduced some of her neighbours – including migrants who had recently moved on to the road – to tears.

“It’s appalling,” she said. “This is a mega, mega project – they have this massive dual carriageway which will come roaring up from the old Manukau City centre, wipe out the ridge, then sweep down Mill Rd.”

A distraught fellow committee member, Eve Osborne, said she and her husband were assured by officials before buying their large colonial-style home further up the ridge for “close to $1 million” in 2011 that the road would avoid the property.

They moved in after being built out by neighbours in Glendowie, but had to halt badly-needed renovations to the Redoubt Rd property in October after learning the road would be “going smack through this house” and those on either side.

Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan said the road had been flagged as a strategic arterial route in the 30-year Auckland Plan, and was a priority project needed to cope with future growth from Flat Bush to Drury.

Although its preferred alignment “shows an impact” on about 260 properties, among more than 400 along the first stage of the road corridor, he said many may be affected in only minor ways.

The proposal

* Redoubt Rd-Mill Rd-Murphy Rd corridor:
* 32km long to Drury.
* $246 million for the first 9.2km stage, cost unknown south of Alfriston.
* About 260 properties affected in first stage.
* Likely to be built in several stages over 20 years

 

To be fair to Auckland Transport this corridor has been placed in The Auckland Plan as the picture above shows. To be even more “fair” this corridor has been floating around in plans for by the looks of it, the last decade or so; so plenty of notice and attention there. However to be fair to the home owners up at Redoubt Road and Redoubt Ridge, what AT has planned for the corridor is simply horrifying and I am sure we can think of some better alternatives here (given that aspects of the corridor are needed with mass urban development due out my way and along the corridor over the next 30-years).

 

Auckland Transport does have a website dedicated to the Redoubt Road-Mill Road Corridor in which you can find particular information on the project:

Redoubt Road – Mill Road corridor

Your questions on the Mill Road corridor answered

 Redoubt to Mill Road corridor > Old Mill Road consultation

Redoubt Road – Mill Road Corridor Study: Issues

Design and consultation (this one has graphics on the proposed works)

 

A reminder that the scope of the works is for the Redoubt Road – Mill Road Corridor FROM State Highway One (Manukau Interchange) to the Mill Road/Alfriston Road Intersection. Any thing further south of that particular intersection leading into Papakura and later Drury has not come up yet (not that I have seen), so  a case of wait-and-see with AT to see what comes up there (it is also the section that would have my attention more as I am only five minutes away from that section of the corridor).

 

I will write up a separate post on alternatives to the corridor works later to see if effects of the works and corridor could be better minimised.

 

But I do agree with this in the duration:

“Redoubt Rd resident Raewyn Roberts, spokeswoman for an action committee to fight the proposal, yesterday called on Auckland Transport to avoid destroying what remained of a valuable ecological corridor from Murphys Bush to Totara Park and beyond.

She said it should instead press the Government’s Transport Agency to widen the Southern Motorway and alleviate a serious bottleneck caused by what she called a poorly-designed new connection with the Southwestern Motorway. Long delays on the motorway were prompting many drivers to turn off at Manukau and head up Redoubt Rd, causing safety concerns which she accused Auckland Transport of exploiting to strengthen its case for a bypass.”

Yep NZTA stuffed that up alright when they built the State Highways 1/20 interchange. The bottleneck at Hill Road Off-ramp where the motorway south goes from three to two lanes has been there for the last 20 years or more. NZTA decide to build (the much-needed) State Highway 20 interchange but forget to widen the motorway to three lanes to at least Takanini Interchange or for better results Papakura Interchange (which is getting an upgrade anyhow) which means the bottleneck is a heck of lot worse (and yes I tried to avoid it countless times by using Redoubt Road and Mill Road, or the Great South Road in the afternoon rush hour). To the situation worse NZTA are upgrading the Papakura Interchange to allow easier traffic movement in that area but forget the Papakura to Hill Road section of the motorway including Takanini Interchange, making the bottlenecks worse. I wonder because Papakura is a National Party electorate (Justice Minister Judith Collins) and the Takanini Interchange falls into the Manurewa Electorate (Labour MP – Louisa Wall) that NZTA have got their priorities in interchange upgrades backwards (Takanini was due for its upgrade 2015, but now its off the books entirely)

 

However at the end of the day the Redoubt Road/Mill Road corridor will need to be built (regardless of State Highway One) but in a more tactful manner that is not as disturbing as the current proposal. I don’t quite think large-scale carriage-ways are needed now or ever even with the growth coming up in the area.

 

As I said I shall draw an alternative’s proposal up later and see what I get…

 

A Look at Manukau

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Taking at a Look at Manukau

 

Last December I had filed a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request into the business case study of the now Auckland Transport Ronwood Avenue Parking Building: LGOIMA REQUEST OUT – MANUKAU CAR PARK

Well today I joined up with Councillors George Wood, Sharon Stewart and Dick Quax for lunch and a quick look at the Manukau Rail Station as well as the Ronwood Avenue Parking Building. These are the photos I took:

 

The Manukau station is still as dead as a Do-Do and I am hearing reports that the MIT Building and/or ticket office on-top of the Manukau Station could open up to three months late as of current (So instead March we are looking at June at the earliest)

 

As for the AT Parking Building, oh boy not good. 456/671 spaces available (32% full) and the on-street parking which has cheaper Park and Display All-Day parking was only 67% full. To make things more interesting the signs at the entrance of the building gave an incorrect count. The entrance displayed 35 spaces available while the counter on Deck Two displayed 456 spaces available – so it is a case of which one is it. The fire exit door on Deck I think Six was locked so you could not go in out of it from that level while the entire Ground Level set aside for long-term lease holders was empty. And for the real head turner – AT dropped the ALL-DAY charge in the parking building from $19/day to $6/day, with the on-street parking still at I believe $4.50/day…

 

Heck I hope for revenue sake that the MIT opening and operation will fill up the car parking building other wise it is a truly dead duck. However we are also trying to encourage the students and staff to use public transport (hence MIT being right on top of the Manukau Station) so a conflicting situation here folks. Does AT encourage public transport to a dead station or private transport to a dead parking building?

 

A real head scratcher there folks…

 

Mayor Gets Left Behind

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New Ferry Service Takes Off

 

&

 

Mayor Gets Left Behind

 

No I am not kidding – the mayor Len Brown DID get left behind forcing the ferry to turn around to come and get him after he was caught gas bagging and forgot to catch the service.

From TVNZ

New Hobsonville Pt ferry service launched

For the first time in 50 years Auckland City has funded new ferry terminals in a bid to get commuters off the roads and onto the water.

A new ferry service was launched today and will connect the suburbs of Hobsonville and Beach Haven with downtown Auckland. Two morning and three afternoon services will run on weekdays.

The trips will take 30 minutes and cost $12 a ride for those paying cash, and less for those with an Auckland Transport Hop card.

Hundreds of people gathered to see the launch. The first passengers were Auckland Mayor Len Brown and Prime Minister John Key.

From downtown Auckland the ferry travels west on a scenic journey across the Waitemata Harbour.

“It’s gorgeous,” said Key.

“What you take for granted when you live in Auckland is just how beautiful the surroundings are, and you get a completely different perspective from the water. Can’t think of a nicer way to start the day,” the Helensville MP said.

The boat stops at the North Shore suburb of Beach Haven and then it’s just 400 metres across the water to Hobsonville, a trip the mayor nearly missed out on when the boat left without him

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DOH!

 

A Radio NZ piece has also come up on the new ferry service this morning that is worth a listen. You can listen by click the link HERE.

Two things that did catch my attention were the following:

  • I hear that right? The Beach Haven ferry service is cheaper due to a larger subsidy so it can COMPETE with the local buses in the area that also head to the same place as the ferry (Downtown).
    Ummm that is rather backwards and an honest flushing of cash down the loo…
  • And plodding along in the interview I just heard that those in Hobsonville have a bus service with no shelter, route map or timetable while AT just spent a few mil on the ferry docks? 
    Am I missing something here?

While I have confidence these ferry services will take off and be a success (got to get more sailings in) the concerns noted above won’t help gaining full confidence when there is so much work to get through in getting this right.

 

A good and basic system has started with this new ferry service, but the inner mechanics in AT when it comes to things like subsidies, competition and lack of facilities on existing services need to be ironed out before things can advance to a first class system.

 

I (well someone will) keep an eye on this and see where things ends up 12 months from now…

RPTP Presentation

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Ready, Set, Go for Presentation

 

Thursday 7th February at 1400 hours – Manukau Civic Centre I give my presentation to the Regional Public Transport Plan submission I wrote last year. I have finally completed the presentation for the four panel members which includes Councillor Mike Lee and AT’s Head of Public Transport Operations – Mark Lambert, with the main focus being local. That is the focus is close to home and covers the Manurewa, Takanini, Manukau and Papakura areas (I live in Papakura).

The presentation in PDF format is embedded below:

 

The speaking slot is only 10 minutes however if the panel members have read my written submission already AND paid some attention to the blog where most of the presentation material has come from, then the bulk of the speaking session should be a dialogue between myself and the panel members as they flesh out the points I have made. Not  spending time going over the entire submission as our AT panel members should have already read it (the presentation basically is a refresher with some graphics thrown in to illustrate points).

 

Transportation to the Hearing

 

Now being the Social Liberal that I am and having declared earlier that I am sensitive to price and time consideration when choosing a mode of transit, we shall take a look at the options I have to get me from Papakura to Manukau.

 

Basic Requirement
  • Presentation is at 14:00-14:10
  • Location: Manukau Civic Centre – Manukau City Centre (same area as Westfield Manukau Mall and Manukau Train Station
  • Must be at Manukau by 13:40 to hand presentation and notes for the panel members

 

To go by car to Manukau

Using the motorways it would take 15 minutes to travel the 11.1km trip – this is one way. As parking is free the main cost is petrol so I would say $3 for the return trip

 

To go by train to Manukau

According to the AT Journey Planner

Not even an option as the train into Manukau Station either at 1:04pm or 2:05 pm – so missing the market entirely as I would need to catch the 12:40pm service from Papakura and relay with the Britomart – Manukau train service at Puhinui at 12:56pm. Cost if I did decide to do this is $1 to the Park and Ride at Papakura and a $3 – 2-stage fare using my AT-HOP card (approx).

For the trip home providing I was not held up I would catch the 14:31 service from Manukau to Puhinui and relay with the 14:46 Eastern Line train heading to Papakura which gets in at Papakura at 15:03pm. Again cost is the same as the trip into Manukau

 

To use the bus

Not my first choice however I do have the following: Route 472 (so a Great South Road trundler) departing at 12:50pm and getting me to Manukau Mall at 13:15pm. Cost is $3.40 – two stage. Now the actual time consumer is the walk from the Manukau bus stop to the Civic Centre which takes another 10 minutes. So providing the bus was not late I would arrive at the Civic centre at 13:30 give or take.

Trip home would entail the following: Bus leaving (again the 472) 14:45 and getting to Papakura at 15:15 with the fare being $3.40.

 

So $3 and 25 minutes by car for the return trip, or over an hour and costing $8 approx for using a bus (trains do not even get a mention as the time is just too excessive to consider unless I really want to time waste).

 

I think CAR is the preferred choice for my trip to and from Manukau on Thursday; based on cost, efficiency and time. It shouldn’t be the case but it is – and now you can see why I am submitting to the RPTP so this situation should not happen!

 

Rather ironic isn’t it?

Oh My

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Not a Good Look For Auckland

 

Some feedback from a reader (who has asked to remain anonymous which BR:AKL will do as requested) on their experience with our rail system down at Britomart over the recent Auckland Anniversary Weekend:

 

Made a big mistake yesterday. I showed some international investors around the waterfront yesterday knowing it would be vibrant with Anniversary day regatta on. All was well until they wanted to go see our train station (which was Britomart). What a “disaster” that turned out to be.

They stood there for about 5-10min taking it all in, watching as the same people were at the ticket box with one person working (at that particular ticket box (The station platform level one on the other side of the gates where the “Onboard Fare is usually paid)) trying to sort something out for five minutes. As a result people were coming and going from the waiting queue annoyed.

The investors were not impressed at all and said that what they seen of Auckland doesn’t impress them as a viable city to invest in. They said love the wide open spaces, weather etc. but just doesn’t stack up as commercially viable. 

While I am here: Every time I go into Station Square in Newmarket to show potential investors/tenants the vacant shops I pray there are humans (besides the unemployed and school kids hanging around during school hours I might pray but the poor tenants are mental wrecks waiting for the last  four years for the trains to arrive every thee minutes and what was it like 17,000 people using that station.

 

The person who sent in the above also sent in some photos to boot (Anniversary Monday):

 

Well after another anonymous reader fed to the blog some statistics from the Anniversary Weekend I am not surprised that our friend above was rather disheartened and the investors spooked off.

The statistics I am referring to is how many Rail Ticket Machines had some kind of fault in them. 37 faults on 31 machines out of an approximate total of 57 rail ticket machines across the Auckland rail network over the long weekend. The faults can range from:

  • Machine has no change
  • No paper (so the machine goes “offline” as it can’t print tickets)
  • Printer Fault (can put the machine offline)
  • Machine just turned off
  • Bank Note Device not accepting your $20 bill 😛

So 31 out of 57 machines had either one or more of the above listed faults in the weekend. To make it worse, if you call it in to the AT-HOP help desk the technician won’t come until Tuesday to “fix” the issue (I kid you not).

 

Now to make life harder, those with AT-HOP cards who would tag on and off like I do when travelling by train would have faced numerous tagging posts “offline” meaning you need to go find another tag post. I knew of a couple of stations (I went travelling on the train in the weekend “exploring”) that had two out of three of their tag posts offline. Again call it into AT-HOP help desk and the technician comes out Tuesday.

 

What on earth happened over the Anniversary weekend when Auckland had all the tourists in. I thought we were meant to make our good train system that – good; not bloody difficult and spooking off people.

Groan – the amount of work to advance the good system into an Advanced First-Class system just keeps piling up and up and up with no light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Come on guys – I know you can do better 😦