Subscribe to RSSMike Lee Slams T2 Plan
ARC chair and Waitemata and Gulf City Vision-endorsed candidate, Mike Lee, today slammed the Auckland City plan to allow cars into the bus lanes on Dominion Rd, calling it a retrograde step.
He said encouraging bus travel required lateral thinking and thinking outside the square. Launching ARTA’s b-line fast bus initiative, Mr Lee told the gathering that if Auckland City “really has a problem with bus lanes on the side of the road, then its time we gave serious thought to putting bus lanes down the middle of the road.
“This would, in one step remove the conflicts between buses and parking vehicles and vehicles pulling out of, or into, driveways.
“The safety of passengers would actually be enhanced by having traffic lights at each ‘super-stop’, allowing them to get from the side of the road to the platform where they wait for the bus. And the buses would be able to move faster. ”
b-line, launched today at Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, halfway down Dominion Road, as the Mutton Birds song goes, celebrates ARTA’s promotion to change the perception you have to wait forever for a bus so it’s easier to drive and aims to increase bus patronage during peak times.
The yellow branding of b-line for buses in Dominion Road and Mt Eden promote the fact buses weekdays from 7am to 7pm are never more than 15 minutes apart.
NZ Bus is introducing shortly new NZ-made buses along the Mt Eden route. NZ Bus CEO Bruce Emson said that while 15 minutes was the promise, the aim was closer to 5 minute frequencies.
The b-line service will later be developed along other routes such as Sandringham, New North and Great North Rds.
But the launch happens only a few weeks after Auckland City ignored city council officers’ recommendations and decided to allow T2 lanes - meaning Dominion Road bus lanes could also be used by cars with more than one occupant.
I put up video showing how difficult Dominion Road bus travel is already at peak time - and Auckland City transport committee chairman Ken Baguley has explained why the decision was made.
Mike Lee launches b-line
Mr Lee told today’s guests, which included Mr Baguley, that it was most unfortunate that at the very moment that Dominion Road has been chosen as the “flagship route” for bus improvements in Auckland, Auckland City Council is considering removing bus lanes, and allowing cars with just one passenger into the lanes.
“The mayor (John Banks) and the council needs to be in no doubt that this will be a retrograde step and inevitably lead to significant delays for bus users.
“The reason why Dominion Road is such a popular bus route is because catching the bus here to get into town is faster and more convenient than driving. Auckland City Council needs to understand that compromising the effectiveness of the Dominion Road bus lanes is in direct conflict with the ARTA B-Line initiative.
The chair said that Dominion Road’s public transport needs to be enhanced, not undermined.
“After all, transport experts believe that in the not too distant future this route is ideal for modern light-rail: which can absorb the planned increased future demand for public transport and at the same time encourage intensification and a quality urban environment along this key corridor.
“As a step towards this longer-term goal, we need to think laterally about how public transport can be improved along this route? So that this “B-Line” idea has a real sting in its tail, and Dominion Road gets to be known as the best bus route not only in Auckland – but the best bus route in New Zealand.
“By a real sting – I mean a bus service that can really move much more people – much more quickly. Like a railway with trains on rubber tyres.
“We need to remember that people are logical in their transport choices: They will choose what is fastest, cheapest, most reliable and most convenient. If we want more people to use public transport, then that is what we need to give them: a service that makes sense to use.
“In order to do that, we must make an intensive effort to tackle problems that are delaying buses. We need to take a “whole-of-route” approach to operational improvements including traffic signal timing changes; more effective signal pre-emption – in other words when the bus comes the lights turn green straight away – just as in the leading PT cities.
“We must tackle critical customer amenity and infrastructure issues - e.g. poor lighting at stops; substandard bus shelters; and the need to site bus stops where people actually are - not just because bus stops have always been located in a particular place.
“We need to think about off-board ticketing at the most heavily used stops to speed up boarding - or even do what Sydney does and have faster pre-pay bus routes.”
b-line bus brought special guests to the launch
Mr Lee said that with the recent focus on rail, it was easy to overlook that fact that nearly 80% of Auckland public transport trips are by bus. The b-line name was based on a very successful initiative in Vancouver which has been very successful..
Vancouver was a city that Auckland can learn a lot from: both cities have broadly similar populations though Vancouver has 2.1 million people while we have 1.4 m – however we do have similar densities, Auckland at 18.9 people per hectare and Vancouver 17 people per hectare. Both cities also have a similar percentage of jobs in the CBD: Auckland at 13.5% and Vancouver at 12.6%. Yet while Vancouver’s rail system is fairly limited, it has managed to achieve a 17% public transport modeshare of trips to work, while Auckland in comparison has only 7%.
The average Vancouverite takes 135 public transport trips per year, while the average Aucklander only takes 40.
“What has made Vancouver’s B-Line system effective, and will make Auckland’s B-Line equally effective is not so much flashy marketing but rigorous attention to the fundamentals:
- the buses must be attractive
- must operate on time
- must come frequently
- they must be able to travel fast along the corridor, people must be able to board quickly
- if necessary people must be able to transfer freely and conveniently to other buses or trains
Mike Lee: "A bus service that moves much more people, more quickly"
Mike Lee also made passing reference to the remaining big yet-to-be approved rail projects.
“I think its fair to say with the final government approval of the electrification project rail, the battle for rail in Auckland has been fought and won, apart from major projects like the CBD rail tunnel and rail to Auckland International Airport – which will need a political push.”
More photos of the b-line marketing from today’s launch here
39 Comments
Wow great speech Mike! Now that’s the sort of person we need more of in Auckland batting for PT!
Totally agree!
Great stuff. I really hope Mike Lee is involved in the super council. We need him, as I and others have said before he’s quite possibly the best advocate for PT Auckland has had. Certainly the best in recent decades.
I like the call for centre buslanes, I just hope people were listening.
Yes I agree fully too! Fantastic speech.
Yep, he’s got my vote.
T2 lanes are a nonsense and encourage “drive you there” usage. T3 must be the minimum and then there are multiple occupants in the vehicle. A drive you there is actually 1/2 person per car
because the car makes the trip twice to deliver one occupant to the destination.
Sounds like Mike Lee has been reading this sight and transportblog.co.nz re his comments about center bus lanes. I’m impressed.
Go Mike Lee, keep pushing mate! Auckland will be a great place with less cars and other alternatives to get around.
@Scott. I’ll let you into a secret. He does!
putting bus lanes down the centre, would just turn Dominion rd into a motorway with bus lanes. The car lanes move to the footpath side - making it a terrible environment for pedestrians and the locals shops/businesses. Also the “stops” in the centre hold up other buses.
There are very easy and straight foward improvemenst that can be made:
extend bus lanes to intersections eg Valley Rd. Allow prememption and left turn for any cars at the same time. This allows express buses to get ahead, and past any buses picking up at old Stero World stop. It also always buses to stay in the car lane up to View rd, where most want to turn right ie they don’t have to fight their way out of bus lane and into car lane. Also bus lane right into View Rd intersection with pre-emption to turn right.
One of the key issues is that there are too many breaks in the lanes through the town centres - which don’t make sense - just run them whole length, and allow left turns if needed.
Also we don’t seem to consider zone/fare changes. Valley Rd is a cut over point - but moving back to say Burnley would create a much better indented “major” stop - just a thought.
T2 is stupid here - as I’ve said in other postings - too many buses / too many stops / and a constrained town centre area ie cars queued behind buses, slowing everyone down. Also too many schools making T2 very easy for people to achieve without cutting cars.
Mark, I think your comments have a number of misperceptions (is that a word?):
> putting bus lanes down the centre, would just turn Dominion rd
> into a motorway with bus lanes.
In fact, that is not true. The width of the proposal would not change at all, and the character would change for the better - not to think of the future chances for further improvement.
> The car lanes move to the footpath side – making it a terrible
> environment for pedestrians and the locals shops/businesses.
I have no idea why you have the feeling that having cars in the kerbside lanes would be worse than buses there. It is much more intimidating to have buses go past you at speed if you are walking on a footpath than cars. Cars are narrower too (by 50cm or more in some cases), and produce less wind draft.
With the bus lanes in the centre, there would also be much less disruption to turning and parking manoeuvres, so better for shops. And of course, better through movement for buses.
Further, I have the perception that you are (again, if I remember an earlier post right) not thinking of the cycle lanes. There will be at least 1.8m separation space between the vehicle lane and the footpath. How much more is needed???
> Also the “stops” in the centre hold up other buses.
They will not, if designed correctly - buses will simply overtake stopped buses - in the opposing bus lane directly next to them. Bus stops in a centre lane system are usually staggered as well, so there won’t be a bus stopped in the opposing lane at the same location. It works perfectly fine.
Also, long-term stopping durations will be much more a thing of the past with integrated ticketing and the contactless smart cards that are going to be introduced in the next 1-2 years in the approved scheme. No more dealing out small change for 10 passengers. Swipe on, swipe off.
> too many breaks in the lanes through the town centres – which
> don’t make sense – just run them whole length
Now there we ARE in agreement. Let us hope the scheme is a bit more gutsy in the town centres than I am afraid it will be.
Ingolfson
I stick by the motorway view - it would be 24/7 4 lanes of traffic - right up against footpaths. that is not a nice environment for pedestrians - and will drive shoppers to St Lukes (by car of course:). This is what will happen with 24/7 bus lanes down the centre - I assume you’re not proposing some sort of peak bus lane down the centre, reverting to cars?
A bus beside the footpath is for a shorter period ie peak flows - in one direction - so pedestrians on the other side get a normal environment. And outside peak bus lanes, parked cars protect pedestrians from noise and fumes etc.
You’re right I’m not considering the cyscle lanes, as they don’t go through the town centres anyway.Cycle lane widths can only be achieved “mid block” - without bowling dozens of 1920′s character buildings - I assume you want to reatin the heritage buildings?
I conceed there may be ways of dealing with buses passing buses on staggered stops etc - but a centre lane was looked at with light rail - and it has enourmous implications on traffic flows on the arterial and also side roads, and feeding into busineese areas like Foodtown.
I agree swip cards etc are crucial.
Glad we agree on something
ie town centres.
I’m just trying to stand up for the “local” community. I’m happy to oppose T2, and support better bus lanes ie increased access through town centres, but we need to weigh the needs of the areas they pass through. The lcoal Character/town centres are important. It’s not a motorway, it’s an old road built to old widths. In someoways it goes back to the old motorway they wanted in the 50′s up through Dominion Rd, along the Ponsonby ridge etc etc. We’ve all rejected that - and a lot of that was on protecting teh character etc - so Bus lanes etc also have to work in with that existing landscape.
I think the balance can be achieved - retaining car parking outside peak (but extend peak to 7pm), extending length of Bus lanes through town centre parts - with traffic priority.
I think a huge cause of congestion along Dominion Road is that parking is allowed almost right up to the big intersections: particularly in Balmoral. I agree that to some extent on-street parking “slows things down”, which can be good from a pedestrian perspective. However, I think that can be achieved in other ways - such as through clever paving, speed tables etc.
The priority along the route must be for buses, which is why the centre lanes idea I think makes a lot of sense. It gives the buses the best part of the road to work with. It says to all traffic that “this road is about buses, but you can fit in around them”. Just about every single other road in Auckland says “this road is about cars”, so I’m sure we can have one primarily for buses.
I still say go with centre-road bus lanes. In the town centres use paving, changes in the width of the general traffic lane and any other methods deemed necessary to slow vehicles in those lanes down to “humanise” the space. But leave the bus lanes in the centre so they can do the hard work for the route.
The aim of the game here isn’t to make it easy for cars to travel along Dominion Road - in fact we probably want to discourage them to some extent. The aim of the game is to make a top-class public transport corridor. And that must be the priority.
Interesting article in the herald this morning about it. Personally I do think they should be in the centre, then in the general traffic lane things can be done to slow the traffic down through the town centres which will probably be far better than what is there now.
In the midblock sections perhaps with the median removed space could be squeezed up a bit for parking on one side of the road.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10654187
[...] has been quite a lot of very interesting debate on the Dominion Road bus/T2 lane issue on the Aucklandtrains blog, with councillor Mark Donnelly providing some very interesting input to the comment section. His [...]
Mark,
I consider it strange how retaining parking is suddenly a measure of ‘civilising’ a street. You seem to be of the perception that four lanes of traffic will be horrible, and I just don’t get that.
You should not look only at other four lane arterials, you should look at what is proposed here, or what would be proposed if one switched to centre bus lanes.
To start off, there would be centre bus lanes. Even at 1 bus per minute frequency, those lanes are going to be “empty” for most of the time, making pedestrians crossing them midblock much easier. Between the bus lanes, there could also be a median for pedestrians to wait while crossing.
Then, on 60-70% of the route, there WOULD be cycle lanes, which are a proven separation method between faster-moving traffic and footpaths. In fact, NZTA acknowledge that cycle lanes increase pedestrian safety in cities more than they do increase cyclist safety! To simply discount them is not reasonable.
But what about the town centres, you say? Of course I am not proposing to bowl them to widen the space. However, there has been little detailed discussion of how they will look anyway. Maybe in the town centre, one could have clearways (i.e. parking except during peak time) at the kerbs and peak-hour only bus lanes down the centre. I.e. keep the buses through the centre, but during off-peak they might have to share for a short distance.
Heck, maybe a reversible centre bus lane (i.e. single lane in the town centre - inbound in the morning, outbound in the evening, and two opposing centre lanes elsewhere) might even make sense. Then you’d need only three lanes rather than four.
However, even if it was four 24/7 traffic lanes, we need not end up with the “motorway” feel. There are multiple ways of traffic calming the road.
Mark - I would also add that you say you are just standing up for the locals in the area however those locals you seem to care about only appear be the businesses and not the people who live there. What about the residents that want better transport options in the city and not more of the same half arsed crap Aucklands politicians have delivered us over the last 50+ years.
Furthermore, one would generally think that the bus lanes will have vehicles going fastest, because they will be least congested. I would think that putting the slower lane (ie. the general traffic lane) next to the pedestrians would be more humanising than putting the fast bus lane next to the pedestrians.
Just imagine an efficiently working current bus lane during peak times. As a cross section you have:
1) Foothpath with slow moving pedestrians
2) Bus lane with fast moving buses
3) Congested slow general lane
4) Congested slow general lane (other direction)
5) Parked cars (or bus lane)
6) Foothpath
In terms of speeds, you’re going slow-fast-slow-slow-fast-slow. Which seems silly.
If you put the bus lanes in the middle then you go slow-slow-fast-fast-slow-slow, which makes much more sense in my opinion.
One important issue that has not been discussed here is the appalling deal for pedestrians in Dominion Road.
This morning, I tried to cross the road for 15 minutes and gave up.
The steady stream of cars in both directions made it impossible and dangerous.
There were no nearby lights or those safety half way points in the road (what are they called?)
We must insist on making the road pedestrian friendly.
If cars start using the bus lanes, this will make trying to cross the road totally impossible.
After reading this site article, i went to Dominion Rd to see for myself (sorry, I drove!)
I was sceptical but now I am absolutely appalled.
This is total absolute madness for the City Council to do this.
It will turn a difficult busy road into a nightmare.
I will vote against Banks solely on this issue - and until a few weeks ago, he had my support.
I can’t see how the bus lanes will fit in the middle of the road as well as cars, cars parked outside shops etc.
The road isn’t wide enough.
Are you meaning cars will be banned from parking and travelling on the road?
Are Shared Spaces only a CBD thing?
Wouldn’t this be an ideal way for this road.
I hear what you say Anne-Marie about being the most unfriendly badly thought out byst route for pedestrians.
Wouldn’t a shared space for buses pedestrians and light delivery vans work here?
My wife asked me what caused me to laugh so loudly in the study.
Answer: Reading comments here.
Banning cars in Dominion Rd? In your wildest dreams buddy.
Or banning cars anywhere.
Listen up, fools. Most people DRIVE. We have to have some public transport but cars rule because most people in Auckland DRIVE. Get it?
And once public transport fares go up because of the Government’s NZTA FAIR (Get it?) Box recovery plan, people will be outraged they have been conned so long by having to subsidize public transport fares - and hopefully we will see more Aucklanders in their cars enjoying the much improved motorway system we are getting thanks to this Government and the energy of Steven Joyce.
Ignore the troll, everybody.
Mike Lee, you rock. Keep up the good work and pressure on the anti-PT movement
Matt L
My concern re locals isn’t just business - it’s all of us who walk in the area. The lcoal shops do bring a lot of character to the area - and can bring a community focus eg Mt eden village / Sandringham shops. It is harder on an arterial - but if it was turned into a 4 lane/no parking like Balmoral rd, the town centre will die…..and that’s where we walk/shop/grab a coffee etc - keeping people local actually helps re transport etc. We don’t all want to have to go to St Lukes! As I’ve said before it’s about getting balance right.
Once cars went to outside lane - it would just be a matter of time until fences/barriers went in.
Mark, I agree it would be disastrous if fences went up between the footpath and the road. However, I still don’t see how your issues couldn’t be resolved through better paving/landscaping etc. in the village centres. Furthermore, while shifting the general traffic lanes to the outside would mean that they were busier, the vehicles along them would be much slower (because of the congestion) so therefore the conflicts with pedestrians wouldn’t be as bad as buses zipping past at high speeds all the time.
Mark - have a look at this concept design for Adelaide St in Wellington, the option on page 21 has bus lanes along the centre and looks pretty nice for pedestrians. Now while it is just a concept, if we could get Dominion Rd like this it would be pretty good.
http://www.wellington.govt.nz/projects/new/pdfs/adelaide/adelaide-framework.pdf
Anne-Marie
One would hope that as part of the redesign, more pedestrian crossing points will be included (word you are looking for is a median, or even better a median island / refuge island - where pedestrians can break the crossing into two stages, and thus have much better chances at finding a gap to cross).
Shared space would not work here, because it gives TOO much pedestrian priority - and this will be a major bus corridor after all. However, you can do other things that will create a slow-down effect. Like different pavements in the town centres.
Mark
You seem to feel this is some slippery slope situation - once you do x, then you have to do Y, then you end up with fences and 60km/h speeds. I do not think that is the case. Moving cars to lane a or lane b is just one of many potential changes that get combined to create a traffic environment. As Jarbury said, cars in the outside lanes would be pretty slow during peak times. During off-peak times, you’d likely have parking (in the town centres) and you’ll always have cycle lanes outside of the town centres to ensure separation.
And there are options of slowing cars down easily enough in the town centres. Different surface treatments, slow points and so on. No need for fences.
ACTSupporter
You’re funny. But your clown nose is slipping.
Not discussed so far is the scary thought that traffic on Dominion Road will dramatically increase in coming years.
Two local events will not help. An appalling giant McDonalds is going up at the corner of Balmoral and Dominion Rd unless last minute residents moves can stop it.
It should never have been allowed and will be a giant 24 hour restaurant meaning it will act as a magnet for traffic.
Likewise, hearings are almost over for the St Lukes mall plans which involve a doubling in size.
I actually don’t object to an expansion but I do object to the fact the mall has inadequate car parking and poor pedestrian friendly paths. If it becomes Auckland’s biggest mall beyond the size of Sylvia Park then imagine even more traffic pouring towards it including using Dominion Rd and the side roads.
My point is the council needs to be equating into the debate the fact traffic flows are likely to continue to mushroom along this area.
William
Mushrooming is what they will do if PT is not prioritised. If bus lanes are not watered down, then PT will be fine (as it should be, this being the primary PT north-south axis!). As for cars - congestion is a fact of life. We cannot simply build more lanes for it. Instead we need to provide good alternatives, such as the bus lanes and cycle lanes to be added by this project.
The alternative is building the Dom Road motorway after all.
We need car in Auckland.
I visit friends for poker nights in Shackleton Rd between Mt Eden & Dominion Roads. It very long and gets steep. I wouldn’t walk there from bus stop on Dominion Rd as house is half way between streets.
I live in Takapuna so getting public transport from there to Mt Eden on Sunday too hard.
I dont know how long buses run Sunday night. I think never get home.
But here’s suggestion.
Why don’t buses like airport shuttles and pick up people from their homes and go up side streets to where they are go.
I remember reading (I think San Fransico) where this done some years ago get people use public transport.
It’s not taxi service but is shuttle which you have to put up with other people in same van and delays while they get to their destination, whereas taxi is direct. But it’s cheaper and would take people off thinking must use car.
Your story Friday 25 June about the B line proposal for bus traffic along Dominion Road may be the shot in the arm needed to get Auckland moving .Many people talk, but this proposal is walking the talk. Mike Lee, NZ Bus and others responsible should be congratulated. Trams used to get to Onehunga in sixteen minutes from Queen Street.
The B line system has the potential to produce such efficiency.
The Link bus and improved and more frequent train services to Newmarket are winners and also something we are proud to celebrate and to talk about.
There are issues that continue to plague and disrupt efficient transport in Auckland. If city councillors rode our busses, trains and ferries perhaps they will grasp the importance of our transport system and may become proactive.
.If we are to be a Supercity then we need to get transport working throughout the city. A rail link to the airport should also be expedited .
Abridged and published In the New Zealand Herald Monday 28 June
A Kim
“We need car in Auckland.” I wouldn’t subscribe to that (having lived in Auckland for five years without one) - but I agree that it makes things easier.
However, this is not about public transport replacing cars for everything. It is so that you have the OPTION to use it, and so that people who have a route that can easily be served (i.e. commuters that live near a main route and work in the CBD or other area served by that main PT route - such as Dom Road).
Your example route (Takapuna to Mt Eden) is indeed problematic at the moment - and I can understand that you’re not choosing PT. But with rail to the north shore and a city tunnel, you might have a through train from Takapuna to Mt Eden one day. That would be quite useful, wouldn’t it? It can be done - if we spend money on busways/bus schemes and rail, instead of new motorways out in the sticks which carry less traffic than Sandringham Road.
@ingolfson Thank you but no train long time for North Shore.
Why you say nothing about my good idea. Bus Shuttle.
I think it would be wonderful if the Megatropolis council were to cease providing carparking for councillors and office staff. Force them to use public transport of pay city carpark rates, and watch services improve like there’s no tomorrow. They certainly have no excuse for not using public transport, given that the CBD is the best-served location for public transport in the entire urban area.
Obviously staff will have to have carparking provided if they are working shifts that finish in the small hours, at least for the foreseeable future, but there’s no good reason for people who ordinarily work within “normal” hours to have a parking space provided in the middle of the city. Especially not if they work for the organisation that drives (thank you, I’m here all week) and funds public transport services.
Kim - I agree, there won’t be a train for many years yet. As I said - on some routes, cars or bicycles are the only alternatives, as public transport is just not good enough (yet).
“Why you say nothing about my good idea. Bus Shuttle.”
Forgot to comment on that. They aren’t that speedy because they have to get to many specific places where people are waiting for them, as you said. But I think the main thing is cost. In public transport these days (i.e. bus companies), I understand about 40% of the total cost are staff costs, wages.
And that is for buses with many dozens of seats. With a van that has maybe 6-10 seats, the costs for many more drivers would therefore be a lot higher. So the prices would be a lot higher too, much more than a bus trip and closer to a taxi trip - many people would not want to afford that, especially for a trip they do every day, like to work. And for the kind of trip you were talking about - an evening trip from Takapuna to Mt Eden, which you might do, or might not do… I am not sure there would be enough people to go along the specific route to run a shuttle service. You might find that you have to use one shuttle service from Takapuna to the CBD, then another shuttle service from there through the city until you are dropped off at Mt Eden - would take a long time…
Sorry for not being very enthusiastic - it can work, but it isn’t automatically a solution.
William, you say:
You say you’re worried about the St Lukes development creating more traffic on Dominion Road, which is a perfectly valid concern. But they you say that the mall has inadequate parking, by which I interpret that you want it to have even more parking per square metre of retail space than it has now.
Surely that’d just encourage more people to the mall and create more traffic on Dominion Road? If we’re worried about the traffic effects of St Lukes then I reckon the best thing to do is to ban any additional parking, and create a residents parking permit scheme in the surrounding area to stop shoppers from parking in local streets.
the biggest problem with St Lukes is that the public transport is tacked on as an after thought, and there is no easy way to bus to morning side station