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The Auckland Tramway Wynyard Quarter trams are proving extremely popular.
Today there was standing room only on the trams as Aucklanders caught, for most, probably their first glimpse of the revitalised waterfront area and seemed to love it.
The trams seemed popular with young and old - either as a novelty or nostalgia trip. There were queues at tram stops.
A common question I heard was when are the trains going to go somewhere (ie Britomart).
I’ve had lots of emails from people complaining about the $10 daily pass fare with most urging for a $2 gold coin.
The $8m tramway has not been built with any Government subsidy or funding, is being run by the same folk who run the Christchurch heritage trams and obviously they are taking the risk that there will be enough tourists to keep it going at that fare.
It’ll be interesting to see if that’s the case post-RWC.
Wynyard Quarter was busy and popular - but the carpark met with considerable criticism.
The new style parking meters demand you put in your vehicle number plate for some reason and long queues were forming - because no-one in the queues I watched could remember their number plate -and it wasn’t made clear why the information was needed.
Someone remarked that maybe Auckland Transport was untrusting and thought people would hand the parking display tickets with unused time to someone else.
People also grumbled there was a sign at the entrance promising one hour’s free parking but once inside found a few spaces marked for fish market patrons only and they were allowed one hour.
Overall, the area continues to met with approval.
Good to see families out enjoying Auckland’s waterfront.
Just a few teething problems yet to fix…
22 Comments
Great update! Thanks
License plate numbers paves the way for charging for motorcyclists as well! A sign of the future.
According to the manufacturers website, the plate machines avoid the need to print and display a ticket. The machines pass the plate numbers to the parking wardens handheld, so all they need to do is enter the plate to know if the car has over parked, rather than check the actual ticket on the dash for the expire time
@Greenwelly Interesting, thanks
You still needed a ticket to display in the vehicle windscreen for this one
I was down there this evening, and very busy even after sun down. It is such a great addition to Auckland, even more noticeable when you walk back into the old part of the waterfront on Quay St offering nothing but acres of asphalt and traffic.
When I walked down Jellicoe St, behind North Wharf, I saw 6 cars parked at 90 degrees to the road, where the footpath comes out to allow for people to cross the road. The raised pavers for guiding blind pedestrians have been re-purposed as car-park dividers. Auckland Transport needs to do a bit of education/enforcement in the area.
@Feijoa Thats helpful. I will make sure it is passed on -thanks. It is a welcome new space
I bet this tram causes more pollution that it does good.
how many people are now going to drive to this location just to ride it?
all the more reason why there needs to be a connection from Britomart.
Upon creating a PT operation all they have created is more congestion and pollution! why build this awesome park and tram and all this other stuff if there is no connection to the city.
another fail.
@Car - I’m glad your not in charge of developing visions for the city, and clealy you have never heard of staged developments.
Re: the car registration/car parking.
Parking meters of this kind are not uncommon in the UK and I have encountered them in places as far apart as Oxfordshire and Yorkshire.
The reason given, quite openly, is to prevent an unexpired ticket being passed on to another car to use the remaining time.
This new method is designed to maximise revenue from each parking spot by making the next car pay for time that may already have been paid for.
Quite simply, it is motivated by greed.
I always thought giving your unused parking ticket to the next guy was a good solidarity builder amongst the community. It’s a feel-good feeling when you give or receive free parking from a stranger.
After all, the time has already been paid for, and if you’re leaving early it seems fair.
I really like the area. A few too many 4WDs cruising around, so I worry about the tiles on the shared road - I remember the ones on Te Wero Island were completely shattered from heavy vehicles.
@ RTC, there is a difference between stages and doing it this way.
normally you’d build the start (britomart) then the link then the final product.
everything is being hurried for the world cup and the cracks are starting to appear.
Hey don’t they have those new buses going to Wynyard Quarter in late August? No need to drive
@Bella Good point!
Two comments about the parking machines:
1. It’s bizarre that the keyboard is non-QWERTY, since QWERTY ones are well-high universal;
2. When in England I parked in a car park that used number-plate-recognition cameras - at the exit barriers the system charged automatically for the time used (in my case, free!). No keyboards, tickets, or fuss.
And “License” should be spelt “Licence”… another creeping Americanism due in part to MS Word defaulting to U.S. English for its spellchecker.
Great observations both Mike and Newnewt!
“I bet this tram causes more pollution that it does good.”
“Upon creating a PT operation all they have created is more congestion and pollution!”
Whinge, whinge, whinge. It isn’t a PT operation! It is a heritage tram for people to have fun riding on. It may one day become a PT operation, but right now, it is no more “polluting” or “congesting” than any other attraction.
What would you prefer - boring “nothing to do” public areas that everyone avoids coming to? So the Wynyard Quarter project can be called a failure, and our money be funnelled to “develop” places like Warkworth and Ardmore instead?
“I bet this tram causes more pollution that it does good.”
“Upon creating a PT operation all they have created is more congestion and pollution!”
Carl, really, I think you should stay home and we should close all attractions as they will make people get in their cars and cause pollution driving to them, Get out and enjoy Auckland, its a fantastic city summer or winter, appreciate it and those who are working hard to make it even better, great to see our rates being put to more than just fixing a local road! Auckland is the Best!
Looks great. I hope the tram goes to Britomart asap!
Based on my reading and understanding of the bylaws in force for parking, they cannot enforce based on licence plate. There is a penalty for failing to display an unexpired ticket, which is fair enough and well-understood, but the law does not provide for tying a ticket to a specific vehicle.
License plate for parking not a revenue maximizing effort? Suuure, call them on it, allow users to credit unused time!
Well the money grab continues. Put your plate # on the parking ticket,,,,no handing over to the next parker.
This is another case of making it difficult for the user to make it easier for the company controlling the alleged service! Used one of these in the US, had to walk back to the rental car to read off the # to then enter in the machine. What idiot designed this machine? Haven’t they seen a qwerty keyboard??
Again, more money being extracted from Auckland’s ratepayers in the name of progress!!!