Bus priority initiatives continue to move at pace

Further bus priority initiatives will be rolled out across the city after Auckland City’s Transport Committee agreed to additional bus lanes and varied the contract for signal pre-emption technology at its meeting yesterday.

“By April 2005 we hope to have the CBD west bus lanes installed. The new lanes on Albert Street, Mayoral Drive and Vincent Street will operate for extended hours, between 6am and 10am and 3pm and 7pm,” says Councillor Greg McKeown, Transport Committee chairperson.

“We remain committed to making Auckland’s roads work smarter, moving more people on the same roads. Bus services are an essential part of making this happen.

“I’m pleased with the progress that has been made for buses in the CBD,” says Mr McKeown.

“With a large percentage of commuters to the CBD now choosing buses, it has been vital to complement the bus lanes on arterial routes with better bus priorities in the CBD. With planning well advanced for more lanes on Fanshawe Street and the Symonds Street ridge, bus passengers from all over the city and region will benefit.”

The Transport Committee also endorsed plans for:

consultation on bus lanes proposed for Donovan Street in Blockhouse Bay, and Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden extending the signal pre-emption and real-time passenger information technology contracts to include North Shore and Waitakere city councils’ arterial routes. Implementing bus priority measures, such as bus lanes, is key to achieving the council’s transport strategy, Connecting People and Places. The strategy aims to deliver an integrated transport system that is reliable, convenient, safe and flexible.

Ends

Notes to editor: Donovan Street bus priority lane A morning peak eastbound bus priority lane is proposed for Donovan Street, from the bus stop west of Rathlin Street to the bus stop west of Boundary Road. This project had been on hold until Transit New Zealand’s State Highway 20 (Mt Roskill extension) design had been finalised. Consultation is planned to start later this month.

Mt Eden Road bus priority lane A citybound bus priority lane is proposed for Mt Eden Road, between Esplanade Road and 100m south of Boston Road. The 350m long lane would operate between 7am and 9am, Monday to Friday. This project will now proceed to consultation later this month.

Signal pre-emption and real-time passenger transport information This project refers to GPS-based technology currently operating on the Link bus route, which communicates with traffic signals to reduce journey times and improve reliability of bus services. A grant from Infrastructure Auckland has enabled the expansion of the system on the North Shore.

CBD west bus priorities To support the Northern Busway, Auckland City is installing bus lanes on Sturdee, Fanshawe, Albert and Vincent streets and Mayoral Drive, with supporting bus priority measures. The target date for implementing the bus lanes is driven by ARTA and the introduction of new North Shore bus services in mid April 2005.

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