North Shore City media release

Big increase in passengers using Busway

15 July 2008

Since the Northern Busway opened in February, there has been a large increase in passengers on the high speed bus lane between Albany, around North Shore City and the Auckland City CBD.

In recent years passenger numbers have risen steadily month by month but the rate of increase rose substantially after the Busway opened. In the year to May, 858,682 passengers were carried on Northern Express buses, which run exclusively on the Busway. This is a 48 per cent increase over the same period last year.

In May alone, patronage was up by 78 per cent compared to the same month last year. There have been similar increases in other months, although the rise varies between 56 and 131 per cent compared to a year earlier.

Local neighbourhood bus services pick up and drop passengers at the five Busway stations and there has also been a strong rise in their passenger numbers, in particular feeder services which connect with the Park n Ride stations at Albany and Constellation Drive.
The Northern Busway is the focus of North Shore City’s upgrade of public transport to provide better bus services, give people more travel options, and reduce car numbers and road congestion.
The chair of North Shore City’s infrastructure and environment committee, Councillor Ken McKay, says the figures are great news. “The increase shows the Busway is providing a service that people want.

“The biggest benefit from taking a bus along the Busway is at peak times, in the morning and evening, because buses speed past the slow moving traffic on state highway one.
“I expect more and more people will choose to take the bus and use the Busway, because most North Shore residents now have convenient access to a local service close to home. It means they can leave their car in the garage and use public transport to get to and from their destination.”

For more information about the Busway, visit www.northshorecity.govt.nz

ENDS

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