TOP STORY: Buses may fast track lights to beat jams

By JOHN COUSINS
A plan to allow Bay Hopper buses to electronically hold traffic signals on green at some major city intersections could make catching the bus to work a whole lot quicker.
Several initiatives are being considered by Tauranga City Council, the most radical of which would allow Bay Hopper buses to hold traffic signals on green, or bring them forward to green, at Cameron Rd intersections with 17th Ave and 22nd Ave.
There were a number of systems to trigger the signals but the most common was an electronic transponder installed in buses which automatically activated signals as the bus approached.
Transit New Zealand's area manager Chris Allen said Transit would want to work in with the council on the system. Whatever was chosen would have to be compatible with the traffic control system in which signals along main roads were linked to each other to allow vehicles to moves in waves through town.
Giving buses greater priority along Tauranga's congested rush-hour roads was outlined to a recent council meeting.
Other proposals being considered included a route change to avoid long peak-time delays when buses entered the Bayfair Shopping Centre carpark.
However, a big question mark looms over who will enforce future bus-friendly proposals like dedicated bus lanes.
Council transport planner Mike Calvert said that when he was looking at the option of a bus lane on Dive Crescent, police told him there was not enough staff to enforce it.
This left the council as enforcers. Staff armed with video cameras would film the number plates of cars which took the shortcut meant for buses.
Mayor Stuart Crosby said he was having second thoughts about dedicated bus lanes, such as the ones planned along Hewletts Rd.
He said bus lanes were not a great use of resources, given the current infrequency of bus services - half-hourly on the most popular routes.
Even when Papamoa's service went to quarter-hourly, he said it was still not a great use of resources on a road travelled by 35,000 vehicles an hour.
"Thirty buses an hour versus 30,000 vehicles is still not good use," Mr Crosby said.
Mr Calvert said bus lanes could be created by banning car parking along the sides of main roads from 7am to 9am on the inbound sides of the road and from 4pm to 6pm on the homeward leg.
He agreed that bus priority systems like bus lanes depended on effective enforcement. Allowing cars with three or more occupants to use bus lanes would make the proposal even more difficult to police.
Overseas experience had shown that bus lanes increased patronage by 5 per cent.
Discussion at the meeting also centred on potential opposition to converting an entire block of Willow St into a downtown bus terminal.
The council has decided to reconsider the location after intervention by the steering group charged with rejuvenating the city centre.
The terminal, comprising eight on-street bus ranks and off-street passenger lounges, was proposed to occupy both sides of Willow St between Wharf and Hamilton streets - including in front of the new art gallery.
Timetable changes were also looming as a major issue because the operation of the terminal relied on a maximum of three buses picking up or dropping off passengers at any one time - minimising footpath congestion.
The off-street waiting areas for passengers would feature electronic screens telling them to the minute when their bus would pull up outside.
Preliminary discussions with Environment Bay of Plenty and Bayline agreed that the major timetable changes would be disruptive.
Further work was needed and Mr Calvert said changes could be best carried out during the re-contracting of bus services in 2008. The council agreed with Mr Crosby that until 2012-14 was too long to wait for an $850,000 downtown transport centre. They should be aiming for 2008-09.
And $210,000 has been budgeted over the next three years to pay for bus priority initiatives.