Hope for fed-up travellers

By WAYNE THOMPSON and PHILIP ENGLISH

Long-suffering West Auckland commuters fed up with traffic jams may be able to cruise into downtown Auckland on a ferry later this year.

Pacific Ferries, which runs the red and white boats from the city to Waiheke Island, confirmed last night that it was looking at establishing a ferry service from Waitakere City.

It is talking to the city council there about a new wharf that would have to be built on the harbour side of the Northwestern Motorway bridge at Te Atatu.

Such a service would help to ease at least one of the frustrations Herald readers have expressed in a big response to a request from the paper for their experiences and solutions to the traffic woes.

Pacific Ferries managing director Steve Young said the company wanted to share costs for the new wharf with the council.

Building the wharf at Te Atatu would mean that a commuter service could start with a 160-passenger catamaran.

Such a large vessel could not pass under the motorway bridge on high tides to use the existing wharf at the Te Atatu Boating Club.

Mr Young said the catamaran could reach Auckland in 15 to 20 minutes.

Using a shallow-draft vessel would mean the channel to the harbour would not need to be dredged.

"We are talking to the council about putting up some money for a wharf. We could have the Monday-to-Friday service up and running in six to nine months."

Mr Young was optimistic that such a service would attract a subsidy from the Auckland Regional Council because it would draw people away from the motorway.

The replies to the Herald show that the region's transport mess impacts not only on businesses but is a constant frustration in the daily lives of Aucklanders.

Many of the responses show it is not uncommon for Aucklanders to work out solutions to congestion while they are stuck in traffic waiting for the roads to clear.

Readers referred to major peak-hour traffic problems at Lincoln Rd in Waitakere and on the Northern Motorway over the Harbour Bridge, to road rage caused by congestion, to difficulties catching buses to where they want to go and to riding trains defaced by graffiti.

One commuter, Cameron Pitches, said that over nearly a year he had sent 30 messages, submissions and a petition by fellow travellers to Auckland councils and the Stagecoach bus company before a requested later service was added to his Richmond Rd bus service.

The service starts today but he added: "You can draw your own conclusions about how efficient bus scheduling is in the city."

Jennifer Northover said she had travelled in Europe and the US using public transport, but in Auckland she frequently ran late because of the irregular Link bus system.

"I abandoned bus transport. If I have to wait 40 minutes in traffic jams it might as well be in the comfort of my own car."

Readers called for drivers to be penalised with tolls if their cars carried only one person, problem intersections to be fixed and more effective traffic lights. They complained about flows being hindered when vehicles on motorways had to merge into fewer lanes.

The replies also show that car drivers experiment with different routes and different travel times in fruitless attempts to beat congestion.

But Bruce Robinson and a person who signed off an e-mail as "Caotik" seemed to have no complaints. Mr Robinson commutes leisurely by ferry and Caotik's positive experiences of Auckland traffic can be put down to his travelling on two wheels - by Vespa.

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The Herald welcomes your commuter experiences. Tell us about the inconvenience of congestion, the lengths you go to beat it, the cost to business and any positive experiences.

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