Personal Rapid Transit in New Zealand - Future Transit Now

Extract from Transit Pulse - July August 2008

Suddenly our economic world is vastly different. Everyday decisions for all of us have changed too. The availability of oil has peaked. Cheap gas is a thing of the past. ATRA’s August 22nd seminar on urban design of PRT is timely. We must rearrange our lives and communities. In the near term, we need policies and programs to assist these changes. As we look forward to the middle of the 21st Century, we should envision the kinds of communities we want to create.

Read the whole article in .pdf format

Image is of MISTER PRT system

The New Zealand Herald has published figures for the first month of full operation for the North Shore Busway and they look good. 80,000 passengers representing a 66% increase over February last year is a really good start.

Unfortunately, as the article points out, bus patronage over the rest of Auckland has taken a dive by 2.2% for the year since June 30 - highlighting a downward trend over the last 5 years.

Interestingly, Auckland Regional Council Deputy Chair Michael Barnett challenged the Auckland Regional Transport Authority's chief executive to offer "something profoundly different" to boost patronage. Perhaps Mr Barnett might like to look this way!

Read the NZ Herald article here 

  With the Northern Busway up and running the New Zealand Herald has run another "your views" about the state of public transport in Auckland to see if people would get out of their cars if we had better public transport. This would have to be a major issue for the Busway - if people do not get out of their cars, then that $300m investment will look a bit lame. Likely it will pressure transit authorities to open the dedicated bus lanes to other users.

Seems a mixed bag of feedback. Some of the responses seem to indicate that the Busway itself may be working. Other comments for those that live on the North Shore and commute across the Shore suggest things may not be so good. The Busway focus has been to create an express corridor - North Shore to City. Also those that live to the West side of the North Shore might still have a problem. Interesting to note that one commentator said this is where most of the "workers" live - the ones likely to need good public transport.

Well, still early days for the Busway but it would be good to continue to monitor the feedback and see just what lessons can be learned if any.

Read the feedback here

Image courtesy of www.transit.govt.nz

A recent article in the New Zealand Herald has raised the question of whether the preparations will go smoothly for the Rugby World Cup to be held at Eden Park. This after International Rugby Board bosses visited and gave the current plans an A+ grade.

The article is a lead in to the Herald's latest "Your views" section. Some of the very first responses already point to North Harbour stadium as the choice.

Again the question also has to be asked - can Auckland transit handle this? Can North Shore transit handle this if it is given the venue?

Read the article and views here

As reported on their website, North Harbour stadium has passed inspection by soccer authority FIFA as the major venue for the inaugural world under-17 women's World Cup. This event will be held in New Zealand from October 28 to November 16 2008.

North Harbour CEO Brendon O'Connor says he is delighted with the endorsement of the Stadium.

"We are very much looking forward to hosting the tournament later in the year. The television exposure for the North Shore, Auckland and New Zealand as a whole will be huge."

The website article notes the tournament will feature 16 teams with North Korea, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay and hosts New Zealand having already qualified.

The event will be an interesting test for North Shore Transit and the recently opened Busway. The Busway solution and this event can still give North Harbour Stadium a shot at the Rugby World Cup 2011. However, as has been alluded to already on this website, some think Auckland has not done too well with transit and big events so here's hoping we have this one right.

Visit North Harbour's website at www.stadium.co.nz

Photo courtesy www.footballnews.com.au

There have already been calls to open the North Shore's new $300m Busway to car pooling. The call has been driven by a requirement for bigger and earlier returns from the investment.

These calls have been resisted by promoters of the Busway because they want to see it working for buses first

Read the article here