Auckland's 'unbelievable' public transport goal doable

Tuesday, 26 March 2019

Public Transport patronage could double to 120 million trips a year by 2023

Aucklanders might be on the way to doubling their public transport use to 120 million rides a year within a decade, a goal once deemed 'unbelievably outrageous'.

Auckland Transport chairman Lester Levy said the challenge seemed undoable when it was put to him by then-Mayor Len Brown in 2012.

'No other city had done that, Vancouver came close,' Levy told AT's board.

Auckland will hit 100 million trips in a 12-month period mid-year, with three years and eight months remaining to reach 120 million.

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Levy's comments came as the council agency patted itself on the back for the patronage lift which has followed the two-year process of overhauling the bus network.

The so-called New Network simplified routes, boosting frequency and capacity on many services, but requiring more commuters to transfer.

An AT report showed patronage continued to climb through the change process, without the temporary dips experienced overseas as people adjusted to new journeys.

The proportion of journeys taken requiring a transfer has doubled to 1 in 6, and the acceptance of transferring has surprised AT.

'We knew that would be painful, and for some it still is,' acknowledged Mark Lambert, the general manager of integrated networks.

Part of the success of the changes was AT's decision to roll them out progressively over a two-year period, starting with the south and ending with the north.

'Some said we were too slow, but we did it in bite-sized chunks - we felt it was too significant to try to achieve at once,' said Colin Homan, the group manager of public transport development.

AT executives diplomatically noted the chaos in Wellington when it introduced a 'big bang' overhaul of the region's bus services last July.

Levy reminded his board at Tuesday's meeting of the unofficial hopes laid out by Brown.

'Doubling public transport in 10 years - it seemed unbelievably outrageous at the time.

'It's quite possible that aspiration could be met,' said Levy.

The latest patronage figures for February show bus journeys up 8.7 per cent on the previous year, with overall patronage across all modes up 10.8 per cent.

But there are headwinds facing the push towards the aspirational goal of 120 million trips in a year.

'We have to be wary of becoming the victims of our success, with increasingly congested corridors,' said chief executive Shane Ellison.

Ellison told Stuff that increasing use of double-deckers allowed more capacity on key routes in the short term, but the risk remained of severe bus congestion in parts of the city.

Despite rising use of public transport, the distances travelled by vehicles continues to climb, high-lighting the scale of change needed to shift more people our of their cars.

Auckland Transport last summer was frustrated in a bid to freeze fares, when increased funding from the council and NZTA was not forthcoming.

The agency believes change of that magnitude could be needed to accelerate public transport patronage growth in the next few years.

Game-changing projects such as the City Rail Link - rail tunnels under the CBD - and proposed Light Rail lines, will not happen before the unofficial 2023 target to double public transport growth.