11 March 2014

Relief for North Shore bus commuters

Some good news for North Shore bus commuters, relief is on the way.

The westbound bus lane on Fanshawe St is to be upgraded following a suggestion from the Campaign for Better Transport and Generation Zero.

Auckland Transport, together with the City Centre Integration Group are currently developing plans that will provide significant benefits for public transport in the Fanshawe corridor from Beaumont Street to the downtown area, however, it will be some time before these will be in place.

More than 8,000 people travel on 173 buses from the city to the North Shore each weekday between4pm and 6pm.

Luke Christensen from Generation Zero has come up with a concept for putting in place interim relief measures. “A proper bus lane is needed from Albert St to Halsey St, this is the area where the buses get clogged up in the afternoon rush.”

Auckland Transport chairman Dr Lester Levy says the concept is sensible. “The suggestion from Luke is a good one and I put it to Auckland Transport management for consideration.”

Auckland Transport agrees there are benefits for customers in doing westbound bus lane improvements on Fanshawe St as soon as practicable.

Dr Levy says, “There are some planning regulatory processes to consider as well as public consultation, however we expect we can have these in place within three months”.

Cameron Pitches from Campaign for Better Transport welcomes the upgraded bus lane for Fanshawe St. “This will come as a relief for North Shore bus commuters, who regularly find themselves stuck in general traffic during the evening rush hour.”

Dr Levy says increasingly Auckland Transport needs to have pragmatic, interim solutions in place while working towards the more time consuming, ideal and more complete solutions – this response is a good example of this type of approach.

For more information: www.aucklandtransport.govt.nz

ENDS

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