While heading out for lunch at work yesterday I noticed this bus parked up, or more specifically I noticed the ad on the back of it.
What interested me was not the ad itself but the idea behind it, of putting a metro map on the bus itself. Advertising on the back of buses has been a common way of advertising to drivers for some time. With the rollout of new bus contracts, AT now have control over the use of it for advertising. Many of the new buses either have nothing on the back of them or advertising for simplified fares.
Perhaps another option for AT would be to put a useful network map on buses as a way for Auckland Transport to advertise the new network they’re rolling out. It could be something like a full frequent network map or perhaps if that’s too busy, just focusing on specific areas, such as the South Auckland map on South Auckland buses.
So what do you reckon AT, why not use those bus backs to both advertise the new network and show people how it connects up the city.
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That map shows why the Outer Link is a stupid service please scrap it Auckland Transport & go back to Crosstown 4 & better frequency for Crosstown 6.
+1000
We use the Outer Link heaps. It is not fast, but it gets us very conveniently to where we want to go. Kingsland to Pt Chev, to Herne Bay, to 3 Lamps. Also to Newmarket if we are going to do lots of shopping and don’t want to walk from the Mt Eden rail station.
Sounds like you are on/near the Valley Road section. Where you are close to two frequent routes and only ever two frequent buses away from any of those places. Retaining the link has goosed the network for everyone else.
https://at.govt.nz/media/1866062/central-suburbs-consultation-map.pdf
The network on the back of the bus has a red line that is something like an outer link – with a lost section that’s possibly Valley Rd stationary traffic? or maybe designed to avoid Meola Rd soccer tournaments? Also, it looks a little bit more like the “Connective Network Option” than the “2018 Rapid and Frequent Public Transport Network” does. Maybe Turner Hopkins is putting its PT ideas out there; they just doesn’t know about GA yet.
The map brilliantly illustrates how public transport works for the privileged.
Look at the brilliant connectivity of Herne Bay, Ponsonby, Newmarket and Remuera. Compare that with Te Atatu, Ranui, Otara and Takanini.
I’d be a big fan of putting this map on the back of buses, It would re-enforce to all Aucklanders how a public transport system works. It would also re-enforce that such systems are in fact the middle class paying for the rich and when transport advocates advocate for Inadequate Vehicle Provision (IVP) they are in fact improving quality of life for the rich whilst decreasing quality of life for the working class.
Boy you do love a good moan, shame reality doesn’t back you up.
Herne Bay, Takanini, Remuera and Otara have exactly the same connectivity, one stop on one frequent line each.
Yes Ponsonby and Newmarket have a range of routes, because they are nodes where routes converge. Its exactly the same as Papatoetoe, Henderson and Manukau. Shall I bitch and moan that the the working class of Papatoetoe get four main routes going to eight different directions, while the rich of Milford and Point Chevalier beach get only one?
Inadequate Vehicle Provision? More like Inordinate Verbiage Projection.
The post brilliantly illustrates how little the Real Matthew person understands about public transport in Auckland compared to me the Fake Matthew.
Te Atatu – Low frequency due to the lack of interchanges & NW Busway resulting in same inefficient route structure as current. This will change when done.
Ranui – Has the Western Line which will be much faster as a result of the CRL
Otara – Agree, I much prefer the new CFN for the area.
Takanini – Has the Southern line which will improve post CRL as well as 33. The map also doesn’t include the local/connector level buses which can be upgraded as the future developments occur.
How will Ranui be improved when the improved services are all terminating at Henderson – they won’t even reach the actual Park and Ride (and far more accessible station in general) at Sturges Road.
Maybe the 20 minute reduction in trip time will be considered an improvement. Also, sturges Road is only more accessible if you consider cars to be the default mode for access.
I guess you need to live around takanini to understand the problem that “the real Matthew” is commenting. The problem with 33 and the southern line is they served the industrial parts will. But takanini has expanded to the east (towards Ardmore). So people living east of porchester road have a long way to walk. There is a bus service which does porchester road (364 or something). But the service to were people live (I.e. Conifer grove, the new housing developments near the army camp/near Southgate) are not that great. ( same is true of wattle downs and Karaka). Neither te mahia or Taranaki officially have Park and rides nor is there bike storage at those stations.
But it is difficult/expensive to build a network which puts everyone within walking distance of a frequent network.
You really have outdone yourself here. The core rapid transit network generally avoids some of the wealthiest parts of Auckland, with the rail network giving the best service to the West and South, hardly the home of the rich.
The briefest of glances at that map shows that it covers a wide range of different suburbs in Auckland, across socio-economic groups. Connectivity is bound to increase the closer you get to the CBD, as that is where the largest concentration of services lies, and not surprisingly areas closer to the city centre tend to be more expensive. However there looks to be good connectivity across many other suburbs too.
I’d be a big fan of putting some of your posts being put on the back of buses. Your unintentional satire make you one of the strongest advocates for increased PT and cycling spend on this blog.
The biggest annoyance is wasting my time reading his rubbish without meaning to, clearly he has nothing better to do.
Good idea. I’d just focus on one smaller area or perhaps single routes etc to highlight them. This would look clearer (with limited time to look at them some times) and prevent cars from rear ending the bus while people study it with too much focus!
Great idea, I like it.
I will be able to read it, study it, ponder it, whenever I am stuck behind a bus in my car!
I like it too but insert a few hundred bright LEDs , have the map wan connected to AT and have a lit LED for each bus position on the map, this bus green the rest red, updated regularly, or
Better still a high contrast big lcd display with bus numbers progressing around the map
Or
Useful messages for following vehicles tailored to route being travelled
‘Hey turkey in the car, this bus will get to CBD sooner than you’
‘Look Mr car driver, I’m faster than you cos I have a special bus lane’
In Perth all buses have this little ‘give way / let me go first’ sticker on the back, which seems to help with public transport movement more than you’d think.
https://busenthusiastic.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/tp1416.jpg?w=840&h=630
This is slightly off topic. I suggest AT have Rapid & Frequent Public Transport Maps at each Train Platform for the Eastern, Onehunga, Southern & Western Lines at Britomart Train Station. This would give people options to get their destinations when train services are cancelled. For example last Thursday Britomart was in chaos when a large vehicle hit the Greenlane Bridge over the Southern Motorway effecting the Onehunga & Southern train line services. I note nothing was mentioned in the media about it.
As my Onehunga train service was cancelled, I decided to walk to the Civic bus stop on Queen Street & catch a 302 bus to Onehunga. It took a long time to get out of the City to Newmarket. Once pass Newmarket it was a quick & congestion free trip back to Onehunga. I found out later I could have travelled on a Swanson train to Newmarket & then catch a bus to Onehunga or catch a Manukau train to Sylvia Park & catch a 009 bus to Onehunga.
Travel map options would help a lot.
+1 AT are terrible at giving people information, almost like they don’t trust a passenger to make the decision.
Also for some reason when there is chaos at Britomart they turn off all the signboards that show what train is going where and when. This is the time when these signs are at their most important!
There are two things going on here.
— A lawyer is advertising on a bus, using a fake map to destinations like Criminal Law.
— Somebody (probably the law firm) has put up a slogan that might (almost) equally be for lawyers or buses.
So AT needs to think about where best to put maps (maybe not the back of a bus) and its own advertising (back-of-bus fine).
I have a 25 year old shopping bag given me by KVB with the slogan ‘Wir faharen fur sie’ which I think means ‘We’ll get you there’. Not bad.
If you look at the 2018 AT map you will notice Howick is losing its direct connection to the city. Despite much resistance it looks like the change is going ahead as the status quo wasn’t one of the options when the change was canvassed. Currently off peak this is about 38 minutes. Last Monday it was 1 hour 45 minutes. I understand that catching the train at Panmure can save time when there is congestion but I would then have to catch a bus from Britomart to upper Queen st. So bus, train, bus where at present I simply catch a single bus. I’m betting this also ends up costing more overall. I could catch the 501 from Botany which still seems to go through but as they both get to Panmure at about the same time I would most likely have to wait for the next one. I suspect this will result in lots of movement back into cars in this area.
I suspect it won’t be that bad in that you don’t have to transfer to the train but rather to the Botany buses. In the new network at peak these will be coming through every 8mins & 10mins from 7am-7pm. I sympathise with your plight until there is decent bus priority or even light rail going up Queen St so that transferring to the train at Panmure would probably be the better option. Actually there is also planned a Howick express bus going via the motorway every 10-20 min between 6am and 10am to City, and between 4pm and 7pm from City. Once AMETI is complete *cough* *cough* things will wizz along. Not to mention the CRL once complete, another opion is you can stay on the train until K’rd Station & walk up from there.
“I’m betting this also ends up costing more overall.” – you mean your fare? – No this will be the same with the new zone based fare system, 3 zones either way you get there.