Comments on: The Public Transport Management Act

By: admin

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:10:26 +0000

I agree Nick, although I think that there will be a fairly large number of routes that will effectively stay as is, so therefore won’t really fall within any of ARTA three options – like my 004/005 route or New North Road buses between Avondale and the CBD.

I think ARTA’s biggest challenge is to actually get some of the QTNs up and running. I mean seriously, they’ve been talking about them for a few years now and how many do we have? Zero? One (Dominion Rd)?

By: Nick R

Nick R — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:59:55 +0000

It seems that maybe ARTA is lacking a level in it’s heirarchy of services. They have the RTN trunk routes of rail and busway, high serivce level QTN bus routes in between, and LCN local connector network for local trips and feeders to the RTN.

Perhaps they also need a NTN, a ‘network connector network’ of bus routes with high frequency but perhaps less capacity or quality as the QTN.This would aim primarily to provide connections between the RTN and QTN networks rather than service new areas directly, in order to integrate them into a proper system.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:30:07 +0000

Yup absolutely. In order for people to switch to public transport it needs to be more attractive than driving. A big part of that is speed, which rail is best at achieving as it has its own right of way.

By: Jeremy Harris

Jeremy Harris — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:22:21 +0000

@admin, yes but if we are ever going to have an Auckland wide excellent PT system we do need a rail line out east, to the airport, the CBD and later on the SAL and shore…

In that case a full feeder system with some cross town routes would be optimal…

By: Nick R

Nick R — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:53:57 +0000

You could have a system based upon a trunk of rail/busway lines with feeder bus loops at each station that would serve the whole region. A trip would take the form of:

Bus feeder from origin to nearest station.
Rail trip to station closest to destination, perhaps requiring a transfer between lines.
Bus feeder from station to destination.

This follows the same theory as the ‘heirarchy of roads’. Origins and destinations are on a ‘cul-de-sac’ bus loop that serves only to get people to and from the main trunk routes where the majority of transport is done.

Probably not a good idea as the only topology of the system, but it could have applications within a grid network, particularly for trips that involve crossing the city in a roughly straight line.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:31:09 +0000

Feeder buses to train station are, of course, essential. But where does the train system serve? Largely only jobs within the CBD and Newmarket. I still think we need a grid-like network to help serve jobs elsewhere.

By: Jeremy Harris

Jeremy Harris — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:23:06 +0000

I favour each train station having a feeder bus system… Which will become more feasible if gas prices really go through the roof…

By: Nick R

Nick R — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:10:25 +0000

Yes I think there is room for buses and trains in the same corridor, as long as they are designed to service the kinds of travel they are each good at (i.e. longer distance on trains, shorter local journeys on buses). This would mean dis-establishing commuter buses somewhat, and possibly breaking them up into local routes that connect well to stations.

By: Scott M

Scott M — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:18:42 +0000

I see it as a layered network, similar to the approach ARTA is currently pursuing. Buses provide a finer grain service and get people from A-B on shorter trips. They should also feed people onto trains for the longer distance trips. That why when Jarbury says he thinks buses going along Gt South Road are competing with the trains, its not necessarily true. The train might only stop every 2km, versus a bus every 400m. If a person actually wants to get off somewhere along that corridor, the bus service probably provides a better service with less walking distance. Its only if that person wants to go to the CBD that the bus service would be unecessarily competing with the train. I think buses and trains are therefore operating at different “levels” and complement each other provided they are well designed. It should be up to the public as to which service gets them to their destination in the most efficient manner.

By: Jeremy Harris

Jeremy Harris — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:22:58 +0000

Scoot, is it a feeder system for trains or an alternative to the spoke type system we have now that would work even if there was no train system at all..?