Tag: Public Transport

An Integrated Ticket System that is Ahead of Time and Budget

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Sydney Public Transport Integrated Ticketing System Progressing Well

(Better than Auckland and Melbourne too)

 

We know the AT-HOP integrated ticketing scheme roll out by Auckland Transport for our public transport system has not been flash hot with delays and issues for the buses (trains and ferries when rather well). However, in Sydney their Opal public transport integrated ticketing scheme roll out is going surprisingly well and apparently ahead on time.

From Sydney Morning Herald:

Opal card use to be extended next week

Date
January 23, 2014 – 2:37PM

Transport Reporter

About half of all Sydney train passengers will be able to use Opal cards by the end of next week.

Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said on Thursday that the distribution of the public transport smartcard system is ahead of schedule.

From Friday, January 31, the Opal will be available at train stations between Strathfield and Redfern, Strathfield and Hornsby, Chatswood and Wyong, and on the Epping to Chatswood line.

Announcing the latest stage of the $1.2 billion ticketing system at Strathfield Station, Premier Barry O’Farrell and Ms Berejiklian said the government was on track to ensure the card could be used on all trains, buses and ferries by the end of the year. The light rail will be added next year.

“We are slightly ahead of schedule,” Ms Berejiklian said, “but I say that without being complacent.

“If you look at the way other cities around the world and around Australia have implemented integrated ticketing, it hasn’t gone without problems. It hasn’t gone without glitches,” she said.

“Even though we’ve had great success to date, we will never be complacent.”

The Opal is already available on the eastern suburbs line to Bondi Junction, on the city circle line and on the north shore line to Chatswood, all Sydney Ferries, and two bus routes.

But the take-up of the card has been fairly slow. Some public transport users have been put off by the relative cost of paying with the card, which can be more expensive than using a monthly or quarterly ticket.

Others have been waiting for it to be extended to more train stations and buses.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/opal-card-use-to-be-extended-next-week-20140123-31atu.html#ixzz2rByd0PaX

…

 

Well done New South Wales State Government and Sydney city. But where Auckland will have an advantage (eventually) is on integrated fares something Sydney does not seem to be doing.

Continuing from the SMH article:

Experts have criticised the decision to continue to charge people different fares when they change from one mode of transport to another. But Ms Berejiklian said she did not think users of different types of transport should subsidise the other.

“We don’t think it’s fair that people who catch trains and buses should be subsidising people who catch ferries,” she said.

“Every mode of transport costs a different amount for the government to provide, and we want to make sure it’s an open and fair system.”

About 45,000 Opal cards have been registered, and the government has not yet said when it will stop selling paper tickets.

Mr O’Farrell said queuing for a ticket would be a thing of the past. “This is particularly great news for customers on the central coast,” he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/opal-card-use-to-be-extended-next-week-20140123-31atu.html#ixzz2rBzR2iw7

…

 

None the less next time I go to Sydney on holiday I’ll try out Opal and see how it goes (last time I used the old paper ticket system and that was not that bad – especially compared to our train paper tickets for the rail network here in Auckland).

 

Sydney Heavy Rail Ticket - Airport Line
Sydney Heavy Rail Ticket – Airport Line

 

Mayor Len Brown on upcoming Transport Projects

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Generation Zero Got a Mention

And

The Roads are Staying

 

I caught on Twitter that Mayor Len Brown was doing an interview with Radio Live over the lunch break. It is a very long interview covering an array of topics but the one that caught my attention the most was on transport.

We know three things:

  1. 2015-2025 Integrated Transport Program comes out for submissions later this year
  2. We have a current $15 billion funding gap for the 2012-2022 ITP owing to the massive road-fest in that program
  3. Generation Zero along with Transport Blog are strongly advocating for the Congestion Free Network which as they claim costs less than the current ITP and actually gets Auckland moving (the current ITP won’t)

 

Cue this piece from Radio Live today (http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Audio.aspx) which made think “oh boy.” To get the piece go to that Radio Live audio link, select Monday 20th January, then select the 12:30pm line on the scrolling menu, wait until 4:04 mark where the Mayor talks about Generation Zero and the ITP.

It would appear from that snippet that Generation Zero and Transport Blog are going to be facing an interesting debate when it comes to the 2015-2025 Integrated Transport Program. The Mayor does support some aspects of what Generation Zero and Transport Blog are pushing like the City Rail Link. But when it comes to the motorways and roading side of the ITP (subsequently leading to the funding issue) this is where sparks could fly. In short the Mayor has said the roading projects remain and (this was a stretch) that Generation Zero had taken any new roading project off the table. The Mayor went on further saying this was not tenable and effectively even with all the public and active transport investment, that mode usage would only move from 10% current to approximately 15% – leaving 85% by car. Also remember the population is growing to volume also on both modes increases as well.

The Radio Live portal:

Radio Live

 

It seems rather underwhelming what the Mayor said when it came to transport investment. I wonder if the Councillors have other ideas and could force a change of tact with the ITP? Will have to wait and see I suppose, but least we know what we are up against.

 

BREAKING NEWS – EAST WEST LINK CONSIDERATION

· 1 Comment ·

AUCKLAND TRANSPORT RECONSIDERS EAST-WEST LINK

 

Updated

 

Coming in live via Twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A massive coup indeed for South Auckland.

Press release due out tomorrow but I can see even from my home in Papakura the relief , tears and joy for those that were in the firing line by the East-West Link – especially Option Four.

More tomorrow

From Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board on the East-West Link

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In Case you missed it last week

 

A release from the Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board in light of the Infrastructure Committee’s decisions around the East West Link last week:

Community engagement on East West Link welcomed

 

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board has welcomed this week’s announcement of a more collaborative approach to the East West Link transport project.

The project is looking at options to improve links between the south-west and south-east of Auckland and ease congestion.

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board Chair Lydia Sosene said the announcement by Auckland Transport and the NZ Transport Agency was a positive step that would help to address community concerns.

“We are very pleased that there will be a more co-operative approach with key stakeholders in the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu area. This is the position this board has been advocating for.”

The Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board has been in on-going discussions with Auckland Transport and the NZ Transport Agency regarding the East West Link.

“From the start, we have made it clear that we do not support any option that would see a motorway cut through our residential areas. This is what our communities have told us and we will continue to advocate on this issue on their behalf,” Ms Sosene says.

“We have also asked for more options to be investigated. Better public transport, connectivity and transport infrastructure are major priorities for our area. We support the need to address transport issues and find solutions.

“The board is looking forward to continuing discussions with Auckland Transport, the NZ Transport Agency and our communities about this important issue.”

Ends

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More on the happening of the East West Link in the related links below:

 

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Update on AT HOP and North Star

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Another Set of Push Backs?

 

I managed to have the following brochure handed to me about AT HOP and North Star Buses. North Star run the North Shore to CBD routes and are provided by NZ Bus (part of Infratil and also those responsible for the Snapper Disaster (the smart card not the fish one).

The Brochure

 

Those astute readers will see the long lead in time and delays of the AT-HOP roll out for the North Shore. This is owning to some “glitch” (where have I heard this before) in the AT-HOP system that is slowing down the roll out.

Basically delays upon delays with dates pushed further and further back…

Nothing more needs to be really said on the matter as the situation and history speak volumes thus far – and will do so for a while longer to come…

 

De-Ja-Vu with Auckland(‘s) Transport – Again

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Where did I put that old Record Player – Seriously

 

I caught this article in the NZ Herald yesterday on my so-called favourite second topic: Auckland Transport. Actually two articles caught my attention and I seriously wonder if I am having a case of De-ja-vu here in regards to Auckland‘s Transport.

The two articles of notice were these ones, both from Mathew Dearnaley:

 

Starting with “Public transport decline threat to future funding,” this is what had to be said:

From the NZ Herald

Public transport decline threat to future funding

Auckland’s public transport patronage continues to languish.

Trip numbers over the past 12 months ended 3.3 per cent lower than for the previous year.

Patronage to August 31 amounted to 69.2 million passenger trips, down from the previous annual figure of 71.5 million, according to a report to Auckland Transport’s board yesterday.

Trains accounted for the largest proportional loss, down 7.5 per cent to 10.1 million trips, despite the added contribution of the new Manukau line.

 

Even so, rail is starting to show a slight recovery, after its annual patronage drop from almost 11 million trips.

It notched up just over a million trips last month, 1.7 per cent higher than in August last year, despite one fewer business day.

But much more is needed, making a promised new fares strategy all the more pressing.

 

The Government requires Auckland Transport to have almost doubled its annual patronage to 20 million trips by 2020 before it will accelerate its 50 per cent funding for the city’s $2.86 billion underground rail project.

One encouraging statistic is an improvement in punctuality. Close to 89 per cent of trains arrived at their final destinations in August within five minutes of scheduled times, up from a 12-month average of 86.2 per cent.

…

Just a quick note; going back over the Prime Minister’s speech in regards to that 20 million figure it was also stated that if AT could show around 8% growth in rail patronage year in year out then the Government would look at starting the CRL around 2018.

 

To the main matter though what is seriously going on and why does this issue keep popping up.

Regular and historic readers of Talking Auckland would have read here at the blog of the ups and downs we have had with Auckland Transport. At the same time there has been copious amounts of (and not solely from the blog either): public flaying, constructive criticism, submissions, feedback, presentations to committees, lobbying and even meetings to try to offer what assistance once can give to help get our public transport systems (especially rail) back on track.

The results? Two fold:

  1. Success with Auckland Transport’s Strategy and Planning arm in regards to South Auckland‘s public transport system. Whether that be our proposed bus routes, the slow but steady progress with Glenora Road Station, or preparations for the Manukau South Link progress is being made there. This particular arm I quite enjoy talking to or working with that particular department when the time arises.
  2. The Operations arm of AT? Failure and get regularly ignored unless I do something like force a fare back down like I did last September. And it is the operations side causing the most anguish in Auckland for both public transport users and the wider ratepayers

 

Still from the NZ Herald piece:

Trains accounted for the largest proportional loss, down 7.5 per cent to 10.1 million trips, despite the added contribution of the new Manukau line.

Even so, rail is starting to show a slight recovery, after its annual patronage drop from almost 11 million trips.

…

Even there the recovery is at risk of stalling again. 

So what to do folks because I am now seriously lost after nearly two years of trying. Anything that would get patronage realistically back up gets shunned while anything that would be a detriment to patronage happens (otherwise patronage would not have slipped as far as it has).

 

The City Rail Link

 

$3.3b by the time the project gets started and there is a risk of a further blow out – owing to history some of our civic projects. This was noted in the Herald article “Rail delays threaten big blowout.”

I am sure I have said the Rail Fallacy would occur with the City Rail Link using comparisons from other projects overseas – and I could still end up being correct despite earlier ridicule on the matter. The Rail Fallacy Commentary previously mentioned on Talking Auckland can be found here: https://voakl.net/tag/rail-fallacy/

 

Do I want the Rail Fallacy to occur with the City Rail Link though? HECK NO! But pragmatism and harsh reality I must also bear in mind – kind of like risk management. The Rail Fallacy acknowledgement in part was me running a crude risk management exercise across multiple levels on the CRL. At least this way I knew/know the risks and can adapt for it accordingly where required.

Put it this way, at least if (political) reality bites and The Rail Fallacy does happen I was certainly most prepared – unlike others. I would also say this was good business sense in play too. 

 

In the end though unless Auckland Transport pulls finger I am going to struggle to see how the CRL will not start until 2020. Oh and for those like ATB who might put their faith in the EMU’s. Having flash new trains will provide some kick but not the silver bullet needed to bring the CRL forward to 2018. No amount of new rolling stock will counter: getting stuck behind the increasing amount of freight trains with out the third line fully complete, fare products not lined up properly and missing simple links such as the Manukau Rail South Link to attract more actual patronage. So again AT needs to pull finger and get the right things done – no excuses.

 

Final remark

Trains accounted for the largest proportional loss, down 7.5 per cent to 10.1 million trips, despite the added contribution of the new Manukau line.

Hmmm – waiting for that South Link that will feed real numbers in the Manukau Line and station… Lets try and not keep the wards of Manurewa/Papakura and Franklin waiting much longer please AT. There is a pent up demand waiting for a direct service from Pukekohe/Papakura to Manukau via the South Link and some modelling I ran estimates that 20 minute, 7 day a week services using that link would mean patronage levels rivalling our Ellersile and Glen Innes Stations. So lets try and get this built in the upcoming Christmas Block of Lines – okay – please.

 

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