Horse’s mouth to tell all about travelling the region

Confused passengers at the Britomart Transport Centre now have a personal navigator to point them in the right direction.

A new passenger transport information kiosk has opened at Britomart Transport Centre. Initially, it is being staffed by the MAXX ambassadors, part of the roving team who have been guiding travellers to the right buses, trains and ferries since the Centre opened in July. (MAXX is the brand for the region’s future integrated transport network services.)

“Passengers can now talk to someone face-to-face who knows the ins-and-outs of the transport network,” says Catherine Harland, chair of the ARC’s Passenger Transport Committee. “They can help work out a personal travel plan on the spot, and answer your questions straight away.

“As the Britomart Transport Centre is a key interchange for all forms of passenger transport – bus, rail and ferry – good information provided in different ways is vital,” she says.

The kiosk is an addition to the Auckland Regional Council’s Rideline service which last month answered 165,700 travel queries by phone, website, text messaging, WAP and email. Last year, Rideline dealt with 1.85 million travel inquiries, 20 per cent more than the previous year. There were 71,600 more phone calls than last year – a jump of six per cent. Visits to its website had leaped from 272,000 to 431,500 – a 58 per cent increase. And almost 100,000 text-message inquiries were received since the service was introduced in March 2002.

“Some people just prefer the personal approach,” says Cr Harland. “They want information from the horse’s mouth – a friendly human being who really knows their stuff.”

Passengers are also able to buy train and bus tickets from a booth adjacent to the kiosk.

Operating hours are 7am – 6pm Monday to Friday, and 8am – 3pm on Saturdays.

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