Good response to North Shore public transport consultation

File photo

Auckland Transport has begun analysing more than 3150 submissions received from the North Shore New Network consultation.

"There was a high level of public participation on the North Shore, almost double than previous New Network consultations, and we want to thank everyone for their feedback," says Anthony Cross, Public Transport Network Manager.

"The more local knowledge and opinion we get, the more informed our decisions will be, and the better the final Network we can deliver."

Early results show a range of support and opposition. One resident supported the "better connections to alleviate the demand for parking at the park and rides," and another commented that "more frequent weekend trips will make public transport a more viable option when travelling with family."

Once confirmed, the final decisions and service design will be available at www.AT.govt.nz/NewNetwork or people can sign up to an email newsletter to be kept up to date.

Implementation is planned for 2017, a timeframe which is required so that any infrastructure changes can be made, and a competitive tender process can be carried out to decide which bus company will operate each route, on certain parts of the network.

Tenders will be released following service design completion in the first half of 2016. A comprehensive information campaign will be held prior to implementation to make people aware of the changes.

"Many people we spoke to during consultation were eager to see the new bus network happen earlier than 2017, but there's a lot involved in making changes of this scale, so we're doing it in phases by area.

"Over the next two years we will have delivered a New Network for the whole of Auckland, starting with the Hibiscus Coast this October."

Consultation on the new bus network for the North Shore ran from 2 June to 13 July 2015.

BY THE NUMBERS:

• Over 2,400 formal submissions (including 26 in Chinese).

• More than 750 comments on the online discussion forum, which will also be counted as feedback and analysed.

• 5 petitions were received.

• More than 32 events were held over the six week consultation period, where more than 3,400 people were engaged with.

Past consultations for the New Network have included: Hibiscus Coast, West Auckland, South Auckland and Pukekohe and Waiuku.