Petrol prices have gone up so much now where I use to spend about $16 per week on my motorbike to now a full tank costs me $24. So I decided to start carpooling whenever I can. Yesterday was one of them.
What I’ve noticedFirst of all, it is terrible driving to the city every morning. The traffic is very bad and what normally takes 15 -20 minutes (normal speed) to get to town now takes more than an hour sometimes during rush hour.
What is to blameWell on the motorway I noticed plenty of cars with no passengers. We are talking about sedans, SUVs and vans with only one person (the driver) in it. I looked at all the cars surrounding the car I was in and out of the 8 cars around me, only one have a passenger.
Public TransportI would use public transport if it is more reliable and easy to take. In fact I take the bus from Newmarket (where I get dropped off) to my work in Westhaven. But why wouldn’t I take the bus from Henderson? The problem is, it would cost me more and it is very inconvenient. I first have to walk three blocks to the closes bus stop to take me to central Henderson. From here I can take another “flyer” straight to town for take the train to town. Either way, I get dropped off to downtown which is about 20 minutes walk from my work. So in addition to walking, say, 1.5 hours total in a day, I will also have to spend about say $8-$10 a day which totals to about $50 a week; twice that if I ride my bike. Plus there are other factors like “buses do not come on time” or “trains break down”. On my bike, I get to park in the building I work in.
Currently, I carpool once in a while to Newmarket and I take the Link from there to VPM and walk for 5-10 minutes to work. Believe it or not, this usually takes an hour and most of it from waiting for a Link bus. Yesterday when I got to Newmarket outside the Lion Breweries, I saw a Link bus. Then while I was walking to the bus stop, I saw another Link bus (i.e. within 5 minutes). When I got to the bus stop, I waited for 20 minutes in the rain for a bus. It took another 50 minutes on the bus for me to get to work.
…and government officials ask why people won’t take public transport?!
Solution?
Is there a solution? Possibly not a perfect one but there are several things that can be done to improve transport and travelling in Auckland. First of all the geography of Auckland is like an hour glass so there will always be merging of traffic into the centre of town. What must be developed is a train system that centralises at the Britomart. It should spread out in 2-3 directions south and later the outside 2 should spread west and east. The train should also spread north (2 routes) to the north and one northwest towards the beachhaven way. At the end of the terminals should be a network of bus services to go into suburbs and smaller places. There should also be a free bus (like in Melbourne) that go around town. Actually we have that here now but the route is limited and small. One of the stops is at Sky City. I occasionally use it.
Tax breaks for buying smaller cars will encourage people to buy smaller cars. i.e. less petrol consumption and easier to park in town (or everywhere).
Bus / motorcycle /carpool lanes on the motorway; there should be more of these lanes on the motorway where only active buses, motorcycles (and other 2-wheeled motorised vehicles), and cars with more than one occupant should be allowed to use. Currently motorcycles are allowed on bus lanes on normal roads. That’s good but motorcycles should be allowed on motorway bus lanes too. For one it is safer than weaving through traffic which a lot of bikers do. These type of lanes exist overseas and they work, why not here.
Lastly, Auckland residents should get out of their comfort zone and start embracing solutions like this or we will not move forward.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I thought using the 'odd/even plate number' scheme like in Manila would be good to try out. For those who are not sure how that works - vehicles are only allowed every other day depending on the last number of their plate (ie odd or even). This would encourage people to catch public transport or car pool on days that they cannot drive their cars to work. Since the traffic is not as bad as Manila, maybe it can be enforced during rush hour only (7-10am). Although in suggesting this, it may only make the coppers richer. Anyways, there should be lots of support from the government in terms of providing reliable and cheaper public transport.
Post a Comment