New bus network for West Auckland cops some flak

KEY POINTS:

• More services, especially from 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week.undefinedBuses are more frequent, at least every 15 minutes, between New Lynn and the city centre as well as between Westgate, Henderson, and New Lynn.
• Frequent connections to other destinations such as Waitakere Hospital, Auckland Zoo and Motat.
• For areas that do not have direct services to the city centre you can get there by transferring at Westgate, Henderson, or New Lynn.
• More trips on weekends.
• Improved late-night services.
• All-day direct services from Westgate to the city centre via the Northwestern Motorway.
• Peak express services to the city centre from Helensville, Westgate, Te Atatu Peninsula, and Henderson via Te Atatu Rd, New Lynn, Glen Eden, and Titirangi.

A new bus network for West Auckland promises more frequent and improved services, but some commuters are shaking their heads at the changes.

From Sunday, the new network will provide buses at least every 15 minutes between Westgate, Henderson and New Lynn and all-day services from Westgate to the city centre via the Northwestern Motorway.

Events director Sally Bunce, who commutes from Massey to the city, is disappointed a new express service from Westgate is scheduled to take 65 minutes using local roads and the motorway instead of just travelling down the motorway using shoulder lanes for buses.

How can a car travel faster than public transport that has a dedicated bus lane.

Sally Bunce, West Auckland commuter

"To take over one hour to travel from Westgate to the CBD serves no one, is slower than driving and offers absolutely no incentive.

"How can a car travel faster than public transport that has dedicated bus lanes," said Bunce, who can drive to work in 35 minutes on a good day and one hour on a bad day.

Massey's Anne-Marie De Bruin, who commutes to the city by bus, said it is going to be "a bit of a pain" changing buses at Henderson under the new network. Currently, she only has to travel on one bus.

Brendon Main, the Auckland Transport manager overseeing the rollout of new bus services across the city, said the previous service needed a refresh. The goal, he said, is to achieve a better-connected, simple to understand bus service.

West Auckland commuter Anne-Marie De Bruin says changing buses at Henderson will be a pain. Photo / Dean Purcell

The first rollout in South Auckland last October reversed a decline in bus patronage, and led to a 15 per cent increase in passenger trips and 2 per cent growth in overall journeys.

The rollouts of new bus networks in South and West Auckland will be followed by east Auckland in December, central Auckland in the first quarter of next year and north Auckland in the second half of next year.

Main rejected the criticism about the new West Auckland services, saying Auckland Transport received 1200 submissions on the proposed changes and had made changes to 11 of the 24 routes.

The reason the Westgate-to-city express service does not run exclusively on the motorway, Main said, was about providing a good catchment of commuters and using bus priority off the motorway for the quickest possible journey into the city.

The express buses were able to travel faster at times off the motorway than when the motorway was congested, he said.

Main said the premise of the new network was for higher-frequency buses, which would lead to a "hub and spoke" model for commuters to transfer to major interchanges at Westgate, Henderson and New Lynn.

"Feeding people into major interchanges and providing frequent services is a fundamental part of the implementation of the new network. It may require people to change buses but will also provide a higher frequency and quicker trip times," Main said.

He said brochures about the new West Auckland network had been mailed to 97,000 households and there were videos on social media, ambassadors and staff out on the network over this week and next week, and 400 bus drivers up to speed and able to answer questions.

For details on the West Auckland new bus network

click here

.