New Public Transport Network Southern Consultation Brochure

Adapted in accordance with Section 69 of the Copyright Act 1994 by the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, for the sole use of persons who have a print disability.

Produced 2013 by Accessible Format Production, RNZFB, Auckland

This edition is a transcription of the following print edition:

Published by Auckland Transport

Note from the transcriber

All route information given in this document has been supplied by Auckland Transport.

Transforming Auckland’s public transport network

Over the next few years Auckland Transport is moving to a simpler and more integrated public transport network for Auckland.

This will deliver a New Network of buses and trains that will change the way people travel – including the need for some passengers to transfer at key interchanges. In return the New Network will allow more passengers to simply ‘turn up and go’ rather than planning trips around a timetable. It will offer flexible travel options over large parts of the city, making public transport more useful for a range of travel purposes.

The map on page 2 showsthe proposed new frequent routes for the whole of Auckland. This Frequent Network will have trains and buses timetabled at least every 15 minutes from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week. They will be supported by a network of Connector routes timetabled at least every 30 minutes along with Local and Peak services, to ensure Aucklanders continue to have access to public transport and good connections to the Frequent Network.

Due to the scale of change, consultation and implementation for the New Network has been broken into several phases. We are starting with South Auckland’s network, which is the focus of this consultation brochure. More details on the proposed services for South Auckland are on page 3 and our website at Consultation runs from Wednesday 19 June to 4pm Friday 2 August 2013.

As you read through these changes, please keep in mind that we are aiming to create a network that is both useful and convenient for more people in South Auckland.

We have tried to design the best possible network, and we hope to improve on it with your input. Tell us how you think we could improve the New Network to best meet the needs of people who live, work or play in South Auckland.

Other parts of Auckland will be consulted on over the next few years and detailed route maps for those areas will then be available. At this stage we are only seeking feedback on the Southern network.

How to find out more

Visit our website to view individual route maps and suburb guides for key areas of South Auckland, read answers to frequently asked questions and watch our video. This document has been translated into Maori, Tongan, Samoan, Korean, Hindi, Punjabi and Chinese and is available on our website. We are also holding Open Days near you and encourage you to come along. For details go to page 7.

Page 2

Consulting on the New Network for public transport in South Auckland

Why are we proposing changes to public transport?

Now is the time for a new way of thinking about public transport in Auckland. If Auckland is to cope with the expected growth in population, public transport must become the transport choice for more Aucklanders. Bold changes need to be made to provide a better level of service, respond to public demand and provide better connections to the places Aucklanders want to go. Simply putting more buses on the existing network is not an option.

We have to fundamentally change the way bus services operate, to provide more frequent services and a simpler more connected network.

Electric trains are on their way. This gives us the opportunity to redesign bus services to complement rail and improve bus operations across the whole of Auckland.

The current bus network is complex, mostly infrequent and in many places, duplicates what trains do. It is inefficient to operate and does not always provide a suitable alternative to the car, or give ratepayers, taxpayers and customers the best value for money.

The proposed New Network is based on a principle already working in many North American and European cities, which have networks of high frequency services that are designed to work together through easy connections.

A frequent, well-integrated network with services timetabled at least every 15 minutes is considered to be more useful for most people than a jumble of infrequent routes. We are following that principle as we work towards making Auckland the world’s most liveable city.

This principle was included in Auckland Transport’s Draft Regional Public Transport Plan which was consulted on in October 2012. More than 700 submissions were received, and there was strong support for the proposed new public transport network. It was endorsed for local consultation by the Auckland Transport Board in March 2013.

Box:

Diagrams:

Transcriber's Note:

Two diagrams are given. The first labelled "Direct Service Option: Many infrequent overlapping routes (Auckland Now)", the second labelled "Connective Network Option: fewer routes, more frequency (Auckland Future)"

Direct Service Option shows 3 Residential areas, and 3 Activity areas. These six locations are connected by 9 overlapping routes. It has the caption: 9 routes operate at 30 minute frequencies.

Connective Network Option shows the same number of Residential and Activity areas, but these are connected by only 3 overlapping routes. It has the caption: 3 routes operate at least every 15 minutes.

End of Note.

End of Diagram

The current network tries to connect many locations with many other locations at low frequencies, as in the left image. We are moving to the model on the right which has fewer routes but higher frequencies. The point at which the lines intersect in the right hand diagram illustrates where an interchange would be. For example, bus to train interchanges like Otahuhu or Manurewa, or a bus to bus interchange like Otara. This means that to make some trips, connections between services will be required, but the inconvenience associated with this will be minimised by the provision of good interchange facilities, improved frequencies and integrated ticketing (with integrated fares to follow).

End of Box

Map:

Title: Auckland Frequent Network 2016 (Proposed). Routes are subject to change as part of local consultation processes.

Transcriber's Note: The Map shows several different proposed new transport routes for the whole of Auckland. End of Note.

End of Map

Page 3

What does this mean for South Auckland?

The proposed network for South Auckland will include different types of services as follows:

Table:

Service Type / Frequency and Hours of Operation / South Auckland
Frequent Services / In South Auckland, the train line and four key bus routes will form this Frequent service layer.
Bus services
At least every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week.
Peak frequency will typically be every 10-15 minutes.
Services will operate at lower frequencies outside these hours, every 30 minutes or better.
Train services
There will be trains at least every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week, from Puhinui, Papatoetoe, Middlemore and Otahuhu to Britomart. At a later date there will be trains to and from Manukau and Papakura at least every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week. There will be trains to and from Onehunga every 30 minutes. / Services: 30, 31A/B(See footnote *), 32, 33A/B(See footnote *)
Connector Services / The Frequent Network will be complemented by Connector bus services at least every 30 minutes, between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week – connecting people to town centres and work and/or the Frequent Network.
Peak frequency will typically be every 20 minutes.
Services will operate at lower frequencies outside these hours, typically every 60 minutes or better. / Services: 31A, 31B, 33A, 33B, 309, 313, 325, 353, 363, 364, 365, 366, 372, 377
All-Day Network / Taken together, Frequent and Connector services form the backbone of what we have called the All-Day Network, which includes services operating between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week. Outside these hours services will operate but at lower frequencies. / The two boxes above contain the services which make up the All-Day Network for South Auckland.
Local and Peak Period Services / The All-Day Network will be supported by two other types of bus service:
Local services will serve areas not on Frequent or Connector routes. These services will link into the All-Day Network at connection points such as train stations and town centres. Services will generally be every 60 minutes. Peak frequency will typically be every 30 minutes.
Peak period services will only operate during weekday peak period (generally 7am to 9am, and 4pm to 6pm). May vary for industrial area peak services.
Peak services generally operate one way only – towards the city or key destinations in the AM peak and in the PM peak back to the local area. For example the 301 will go from Mangere to the city in the morning and from the city to Mangere in the afternoon. The 352 and 368/369 services however will go both ways during the morning and afternoon peak period. / Local services: 314, 319, 324, 371, 373, 376, 378
Peak Period services: 301, 311, 352, 368/369

Footnote *: Where you see A/B services they are Connector services that will be timetabled to create a 15 minute frequency along the common route, before splitting off to different destinations. For example the 31A from Mangere to Otara continues to Flat Bush and the 31B continues to Botany every 30 minutes. End of Footnote.

End of Table

Travel within South Auckland

All the current bus services in South Auckland will be replaced by the New Network which will provide local connections and introduce four new Frequent bus routes.
A new Frequent service to Auckland Airport.
Improved services between Mangere, Papatoetoe and Otara.
Three new services in Papakura, one of which will service Hingaia/Karaka Lakes.
Three services serving the Wiri, East Tamaki and Auckland Airport industrial areas.
Smaller buses are likely to be used on Local and Connector routes in areas such as Papakura and Manurewa.
Most streets with a bus service will still have services taking them to a key town centre or connecting them with the Frequent Network.
We are providing areas in South Auckland that are not close to train stations with direct and frequent connections to rail at Otahuhu, Papatoetoe, Manurewa and Papakura.
Te Mahia and Westfield train stations are proposed for future closure due to low patronage.

Travel to and from the city

It is proposed that buses would no longer run from South Auckland all the way into central Auckland, except for two services from Mangere. Passengers would be required to make local bus to train connections at Papakura, Manurewa, Manukau, Papatoetoe, Otahuhu or Onehunga.

From Britomart, passengers can connect with frequent inner city services to get to their final destination, for example the University of Auckland and AUT. By the time these changes are made, new electric trains will be coming into service, enabling more passengers to be carried by rail. We believe that the time taken to transfer from bus to train will be outweighed by the shorter train journey times for most passengers. For example, a peak time bus takes approximately 45 minutes to get to Britomart from Otahuhu compared to the train, which only takes 24 minutes.

Connections

Two new bus to train interchanges are proposed, one at Otahuhu Train Station and at a later date one at Manukau Train Station
Bus services will connect to these and other train stations for onward travel, particularly to the city centre.
New timetables will be developed with an emphasis on increased service frequencies and improved coordination and timing with train services. This will be a phased implementation. See table above for more detail.

What are the benefits of the New Network?

Increased frequencies – Frequency is freedom. High frequencies enable passengers to adopt a more flexible “turn up and go” approach, rather than planning trips around the timetable. More frequent services along more direct routes could save time for existing passengers and make it more usable for potential passengers.
All-Day Service (7am to 7pm) – By offering services that will operate more frequently over a larger part of the day, seven days a week – passengers will be able to consider public transport for a greater variety of trips and have the ability to travel any time, not just to and from work.
Flexibility – Because of the All-Day service and the increase in service frequencies, the New Network will provide greater flexibility and choice for passengers.
Simpler network – Fewer route variations and more frequent and regular services will result in a simple, easy-to-understand network which will encourage more people to use bus services.
Increased access to frequent services – The New Network will increase the number of South Auckland residents within 500m of a Frequent service from 12 per cent to 30 per cent.

What are the trade-offs?

Along with our proposed New Network come a few new challenges, which are to be expected when changes of this scale are made. To improve public transport, we need to make some bold changes. We cannot provide for every current bus journey without requiring some people to transfer. We understand not everyone will be in favour of the proposals. Some of the trade-offs include:
No direct services to central Auckland (including express buses) along Great South Road or the Southern motorway – these buses can better be used creating more frequent connections to rail services.
Replacing some bus services that take you direct from your home to your destination with generally more frequent services which may require a transfer. While transfers may not be desirable, they are essential to both frequency and simplicity and they also enable access to a much wider set of destinations.
Some bus stops will no longer be used. As a result some people may need to walk further to access public transport.

Page 4

The following section provides an overview of what these proposed changes mean for each key suburb within South Auckland.

Detailed guides for local suburbs are available on our website

Onehunga

A new Frequent service between Onehunga, Mangere, Auckland Airport, Papatoetoe Station and Manukau
Travel from Onehunga to the city will be via services along Manukau Rd (302, 312) or along Queenstown and Pah Roads (301, 309). Levels of service will be similar to what operates currently on these roads
The 301 service will operate from Mangere (peak-only) and will travel via the motorway and the 309 service will run along Beachcroft Avenue. Both routes will then run along Queenstown and Pah Roads
People wishing to travel to Mangere can take the 309 via Mangere Bridge (similar to current 305 route) or the Frequent service (30) along Coronation Rd and Bader Dr
Those wishing to travel further south can make connections to other services at Mangere Town Centre
All other services in this area will remain the same

Mangere

Frequent services from Mangere Town Centre to Onehunga, Auckland Airport, Papatoetoe Station, Manukau, Otara, Otahuhu and Sylvia Park. Otara services continue either to Botany (31B) via East Tamaki or Flat Bush (31A) via Ormiston Rd
Travel to the city from the eastern side of Mangere (Massey Rd, Buckland Rd,etc.) and Favona will be via bus to Papatoetoe or Otahuhu stations and then via train
Travel to the city from the western side of Mangere (Kirkbride Rd, Bader Dr, Robertson Rd, etc.), and Mangere Bridge via either:
Direct bus (301 peak only along motorway, 309 via Onehunga and Beachcroft Ave)
Frequent bus (30) and train from Onehunga
To get to Manukau, people can either catch the Frequent 31 service to Papatoetoe Station and transfer to the Frequent 30 service or use the 313 service which will operate at least every 30 minutes
New local service (324) through parts of Favona not currently served – connecting to rail at new Otahuhu interchange
Connections to other parts of Auckland can be made at Onehunga, Otahuhu and Manukau
Service (314) to Middlemore Hospital (west side) from Mangere Town Centre

Otahuhu

Very frequent services between Otahuhu Town Centre and a new bus-train interchange proposed at Otahuhu Station
Frequent connections with Sylvia Park, Mangere Town Centre, Hunters Corner, Manukau and Manurewa
Weekday only service (319) along Great South Road between Otahuhu Station, Penrose and Ellerslie
No through buses to the city. All trips to the city will be via train
Westfield Station proposed to close

Otara

Frequent service to Mangere via Papatoetoe Station (31A/B)
Journey to the city via bus to train connection at Otahuhu or Papatoetoe Station
Connector services to Otahuhu, Botany via East Tamaki, Flat Bush via Ormiston Rd and Manukau via Chapel Downs/Clover Park (Diorella Dr)
Connections to other parts of Auckland can be made at Otahuhu, Papatoetoe, Botany or Manukau
No change to the 575 service to Middlemore Hospital and Botany via Highbrook
One service (364) connecting all three Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) campuses

Papatoetoe

Frequent connections to Mangere and Auckland Airport
Frequent service (33A/B) along Great South Rd to Otahuhu Town Centre and bus-train interchange and to Manukau and Manurewa
Services to Otara continue either to Botany (31B) via East Tamaki or Flat Bush (31A) via Ormiston Rd and to Onehunga, Manukau and Otara
Journeys to the city via train

Manukau

Frequent service (30) to Onehunga via Papatoetoe, Auckland Airport, Mangere Town Centre and Mangere Bridge
Frequent service (33A/B) along the Great South Road to Otahuhu, Hunters Corner and Manurewa
Journeys to the city via train
Services to Weymouth, Takanini and Papakura
At Manukau buses will be directed to a proposed bus-train interchange at Manukau Station
A peak only circuit (368/369) in both directions between Manukau and Wiri industrial area
A peak-only service (352) between Manukau and Panmure via East Tamaki industrial area
Current 580 will not change – Chapel Road to Botany

Manurewa

A Frequent service will start from the new interchange at Otahuhu Station then via Great South Road and Manukau with two branches in Manurewa – one to Papakura (33A) via Great South Road and the other to Weymouth (33B) via Clendon Shopping Centre
Motorway express bus services that start in Papakura and go via Manurewa to be discontinued - journeys to the city via train
At Manurewa, buses will use the interchange rather than the Southmall stops on Great South Road
Service (365) extended from Randwick Park to Papakura via Porchester Rd
Wattle Downs service (363) will only go to Manurewa and not to Manukau. To get to Manukau change onto a Frequent bus (33A/B) at Manurewa
Service between Manurewa, Clendon, Homai and Manukau (similar to 454) – extended to Otara/MIT via Tui Road
The Gardens and Everglade Drive (366) – same as current 466 but extended to new Manukau interchange
Te Mahia Station is proposed to close. For journeys to the city people will need to access alternative bus stops on Great South Road, for a bus to the interchange at Manurewa and connect to a train.

Takanini

In addition to a Great South Road service (33A) between Papakura, Manurewa, Manukau and Otahuhu, there will be a new service (365) on the eastern side of the railway line from Papakura to Manukau via Porchester Road, Randwick Park, Manurewa interchange and Russell Road
Connections to other areas within Auckland can be made at Otahuhu, Papatoetoe, or Manukau
New service (371) created between Papakura and Takanini Station via Old Wairoa Rd, Cosgrave Rd and Bruce Pulman Park
The feasibility of a new station in the Glenora Road/Walters Road area (proposed by local interests) has been assessed, but such a station would not be built within the timeframe for implementing this new network

Papakura

There would no longer be any direct bus services to the city, including those via the motorway. Journeys to the city would be via train.
Papakura bus services would only operate locally. People will be able to connect with a train or take a Great South Road bus service to Manurewa, Manukau or Otahuhu
Services to Papakura interchange from Keri Hill (372), Red Hill (373), Rosehill and Pahurehure (377)
New service (365) on the eastern side of the railway line from Papakura to Manukau via Porchester Road, Randwick Park, Manurewa interchange and Russell Road
New service (371) created between Papakura and Takanini Station via Old Wairoa Rd, Cosgrave Rd and Bruce Pulman Park
New service (378) from Hingaia / Karaka Lakes
Service (376) retained between Papakura and Drury

Pukekohe

We will make no changes to Pukekohe to Papakura bus services until we have consulted with the Franklin community except that we will no longer continue any of these services to and from Auckland via the motorway (i.e. 475 services will no longer become the 477x at Papakura). People wishing to travel to Auckland will need to either use the train from Pukekohe or transfer to the train at Papakura)

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