Northern Busway, Auckland

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Passengers boarding a MAXX Regional Transport Northern Express service operated by Ritchies Coachlines.
Passengers boarding a MAXX Regional Transport Northern Express service operated by Ritchies Coachlines.
Brisbane also has a Northern Busway presently under construction.

The Northern Busway is a bus rapid transit system of physically separated bus lanes and dedicated park & ride facilities along State Highway 1 in the north of Auckland, New Zealand, linking North Shore City with the Auckland CBD. It reduces travel times for buses, mainly towards Auckland (from around one hour by car during peak hours to about half an hour by bus)[1] and within North Shore City itself, where it is to become the spine of an ambitious bus-based public transport system.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Construction

The project was designed and consulted on by Beca Group, Opus and Connell Wagner, while Fletcher Construction built the infrastructure of the busway. Akoranga, Smales Farm, and Sunnynook stations were built by NZ Strong Construction.[2][3][4]

Difficulties encountered included the close-by residential areas, the predominantly soft ground, and environmental efforts to protect local dotterel breeding grounds. The construction of the busway employed around 300 people at its peak, with around a million man-hours being invested, including shifts during 512 nights.[5][4]

[edit] Operation

The busway was officially opened in February 2008 after several years of construction, though the two northernmost stations have been operating since December 2005 using the normal Northern Motorway lanes.[6] [7] It is already credited with having reduced peak traffic on the Northern Motorway by around 500 cars each rush hour one month after the opening,[8] and the 'Northern Express' service reports that around 39% of its passengers had never used public transport before.[4] The busway is used by 70 buses per hour during peak time,[5] which includes both existing and new services like the 'Northern Express'.

With its completion, the busway has started to raise interest both amongst technical experts as well as other groups. There have already been advertisements filmed at the bus stations, and requests to allow filming of car commercials on the busway (a request that was denied as inappropriate for a public transport facility) as well as interest from overseas movie location scouts wanting to use the 'futuristic' stations as movie scene backdrops.[9]

[edit] Funding

The busway is to be fully operational by 2009 for a full cost of around NZ$ 290-294 million, of these 210 million for the busway construction itself, and 84 million for the stations.[10][11] The project was funded by Transit New Zealand, ARTA and the Auckland City- and North Shore City Councils.[5]

[edit] Future Plans

Future plans include the suggestion of extending light rail across the Waitemata Harbour to the North Shore, either via a second harbour bridge or tunnel under the harbour floor. The light rail would then extend along the Northern Busway, as it has been designed to allow for conversion to light rail in the future.[12]

An extension, possibly up to Orewa further north, is being debated for the long-term future. It is expected to cost around NZ$ 500 million for a separate bus-only roadway,[11] although other possible more economical suggestions include running the buses on the existing carriageway to new stations at Silverdale and/or Orewa.

[edit] Infrastructure

Constellation Drive Park & Ride station.
Constellation Drive Park & Ride station.
Sunnynook station, the smallest of the five.
Sunnynook station, the smallest of the five.
Smales Farm station, shortly before the busway opening.
Smales Farm station, shortly before the busway opening.
Akoranga bus station. The pedestrian overpass leads to the western side of the motorway.
Akoranga bus station. The pedestrian overpass leads to the western side of the motorway.
Busway

The busway extends on two lanes for 6.2 km[13] running parallel along the motorway from Constellation Drive, Albany to the Akoranga bus station,[14] from where a one-way southbound bus lane extends a further 2.5 km to the Harbour Bridge (this section is not yet fully completed as of early 2008)[4]

Its use is limited to buses of 25+ seat capacity, emergency and maintenance vehicles.[10] The busway has also been designed for possible later use by car pools[13] and for later potential conversion to light rail.[15]

Bus Stations

The Busway includes five dedicated bus stations with in some cases considerable on-site parking to facilitate park & ride. Other bus services will also arrive at the stations from feeder routes, allowing transfer or continuing on on the busway itself.

The stations are (south to north):[2]

  • Akoranga
  • Smales Farm
  • Sunnynook
  • Constellation Drive Park & Ride
  • Albany Park & Ride

All bus stations provide shelter, cycle parking and were designed with public safety in mind, featuring glass walls, low planting, night lighting and CCTV to enhance security.[13]

Other Structures

Major related structures are the new Esmonde Interchange (which however also includes large-scale improvements for other traffic) and the Tristram Avenue Viaduct, which overflys the often congested Tristram Avenue via grade separation. The viaduct spans twelve times 30 m, for a total of 360 m, with the foundation piles being 1.5 m thick.[14]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rail electrification - Region Wide, Auckland Regional Council newsletter, June 2007, Page 3
  2. ^ a b Aerial Map (from the official project website)
  3. ^ North Shore Busways (from the NZ Strong Construction company website. Accessed 2008-03-03.)
  4. ^ a b c d Dedicated busway a roaring success - LG, New Zealand Local Government, March 2008, Volume 44 No 03
  5. ^ a b c Busway bits 'n' pieces - Region Wide, newsletter of the Auckland Regional Council, March 2008, Page 4
  6. ^ Northern Busway - The New Zealand Herald, Saturday 30 June 2007, Page C6
  7. ^ Multi-million dollar busway opens (TVNZ news feature. Accessed 2008-02-04.)
  8. ^ Busway reduces cars by 500 each rush hour - Region Wide, newsletter of the Auckland Regional Council, March 2008, Page 4
  9. ^ Busway creates interest overseas - The New Zealand Herald, Saturday 22 March 2008
  10. ^ a b Welcome to the Northern Busway (from the official project website)
  11. ^ a b Following the money - e.nz magazine, IPENZ January/February 2007
  12. ^ Brian Rudman: Hallelujah, talk before bulldozers - The New Zealand Herald, Wednesday 11 July 2007
  13. ^ a b c Frequently Asked Question (from the North Shore City Council website. Accessed 2008-03-21.)
  14. ^ a b Busway the way of the future for North Shore - LG, New Zealand Local Government, May 2007, Volume 43 No 05
  15. ^ Busway FAQ (from the North Shore City Council website. Accessed 2008-01-11.)

[edit] External links

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