The 312 Hub, award-winning local hip hop group SWIDT, locally-based Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan and local Councillor Jo Bartley are calling on Auckland Transport (AT) to reinstate the 312 bus route.

The ‘Save the 312’ campaign (#SAVETHE312) launches on Saturday the 10th of November. The campaign is led by The 312 hub, an Onehunga-based youth-led hub in collaboration with local rap group SWIDT and is backed by Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Labour List MP based in Maungakiekie, and Maungakiekie-Tamaki Councillor Josephine Bartley.

The campaign aims to highlight the importance of the bus route to local communities and shine a spotlight on the impact AT’s decision to cut the bus route has had on the lives of locals. The 312 bus route, which connected Onehunga, Oranga, Greenlane and One Tree Hill to the city centre, was axed in mid-2018. The campaign calls on AT to reinstate the bus route.

“Many residents have told us that they now spend much more time commuting to work and school and less time with family as a result of the decision to cut the 312 bus route”, says Priyanca Radhakrishnan MP.

“I support what the new bus network is trying to achieve. However, public transport should be affordable, accessible and efficient so that people are benefitted by using it. What’s happened here with the only direct route to the city being cut, is the opposite. Residents are spending more time and money to get to and from work and school” says Radhakrishnan.

“The 312 isn’t just a bus route, it’s also a local Onehunga icon” says Amiria Puia-Taylor, Co-Founder of the 312 Hub. “For many generations, Onehunga has been known as “The 312.” Local businesses and organizations including the 312 Hub and SWIDT have used 312 to express their pride in their local area and for generations has been part of their identity.”

A petition to #SAVETHE312 was launched on 7 November 2018 and had been signed by XXX people within 24 hours of its launch. The petition will be delivered to Auckland Transport on the 3rd of December (3/12/2018) at 3.12pm, a significant day coined by SWIDT as ‘312 Day’. The campaign launch on Saturday 10th November begins at 3.12pm, at The 312 Hub in Onehunga, 1 Payne’s Lane (Outside of Dressmart). It will include a screen-printing workshop where supporters can bring their own T-Shirt to support the campaign, speeches from community figures and locals, and a live performance by SWIDT.

All locals and media are encouraged to attend.

The launch event can be found here

The petition can be found here

ENDS

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