Nothing is ever easy, and when it comes to sorting out public transport in Christchurch these days that is certainly an understatement. Our public transport system has to deal with a mostly closed CBD, stuffed-up roads, a mish mash of new business hubs, changed travel patterns, a lack of a central hub, and increased congestion. Right now, ECan are putting in place a new system to cater for this changed situation (they are even fast-tracking the consultation process). In fact, they are spending over $40 million making changes to our bus system so routes can best serve the changed city, and the Christchurch City Council is building a ‘temporary’ bus interchange on the site of the proposed underground interchange. Now, while I can see plenty of merit in this it also leaves me with a strange worried kind of feeling in the pit of my stomach. How far down this road should we go? Should we instead start looking at jumping to some big changes? Sure, we must get the basics right but right now I can’t see many people starting to use public transport unless some real drastic progress is made. You know, the kind of progress that makes people go ‘wow’.
I have speculated in the past about rushing in temporary rail services, particularly as it is a nice coincidence that Addington is virtually the centre of business at the moment, and services from Rangiora, Rolleston, Lyttelton and maybe even Prebbleton could terminate there, integrating with the bus system. I still stand by that idea, with a view to incremental improvements as the city rebuild rolls along. My point has always been that to get people using public transport in the current environment, and to make it further stand out as a crucial part of the rebuild of the city, we need to start looking at some out of the box ideas (well, in a Christchurch context at least).
When it comes to the bus system, while I think a reboot of bus routes and a temporary central interchange can only be good things, I just don’t think it will be enough to be a game changer, and I sincerely believe we need a game changer. Christchurch’s bus system was making okay progress prior to the earthquakes, although that progress was coming perilously close to stalling. However, much of what had been promised a few years ago was lacking funding and any sort of forward motion. Remember bus lanes? What about bus priority signals? That long talked about park and ride in Rolleston? How about those suburban interchanges that everyone was so enthusiastic about?
In the current environment I am slightly apprehensive to suggest we fast-track some of the aforementioned improvements given that some people will always say there are other priorities. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. How about fast-tracking bus lanes by simply banning on street parking along key roads at certain times through some make-shift signage, markings and media releases? They can simply be upgraded later. Ditto with park and ride facilities. Rangiora, Rolleston, Kaiapoi, and Lincoln should have park and ride at least but there is no reason why places like Belfast, Halswell or Prebbleton wouldn’t be suitable as well. A no brainer should be regular express bus services along key routes, or at least a plethora of them during rush hour. In fact, I believe that could be the single biggest thing ECan could do to improve bus services. I enjoyed catching an express service in the past, but was always frustrated that they were very limited.
ECan looks like they are going to have more routes focused on suburban hubs, but the last time I looked there were no quality interchange facilities at any suburban centres. Proper suburban interchanges, perhaps temporary at first, are going to be crucial if we want people to use this ‘new system’. You can’t expect people to be impressed when they have to cross a busy Riccarton Rd to change services (there is no safe crossing there and at a number of similar suburban locations) or wait for buses in the cold wind and rain (or even in the hot summer sun for that matter). That $40 million will be money down the drain and people will continue to stay away from the buses.
My point is, it is all very well changing the system but if it is not quality then people probably still won’t use it. Getting the funding to not only fast-track changes in routes but also fast-track some real proper improvements that will result in a substantial up-shift in quality of service is going to be crucial. Imagine a new interchange opening in Riccarton where people can safely, and in comfort, wait for buses. Imagine what people will say when they can catch express buses that utilise bus lanes and bus priority signals? Good impressions last and word spreads.
So who on earth is going to pay for all this? The fact of the matter is that public transport seems to be on the outer at the moment in New Zealand. We have all heard the Government say that there has in fact been substantial funding towards public transport but unfortunately for Christchurch that is largely restricted to the urban rail systems in Auckland and Wellington. Christchurch doesn’t have an urban rail system (the tracks sit there all day, used by freight but never taken advantage of for other uses) and there hasn’t been any alternative investment in public transport infrastructure to match the rail spending in Auckland and Wellington. In fact, as mentioned above, Christchurch has had a lot of its earmarked public transport improvements cut. Of course, no such bad luck for Christchurch’s motorway projects which are full steam ahead with little or no delay, the earthquake seemingly having further helped justify them. Surely, with all that in mind there must be an equal justification for key public transport projects to be funded and fast-tracked in Christchurch, especially given the recent events. Well, you would think so wouldn’t you?
To sum up, some of the key projects that I believe must be rolled out as part of any system improvements include the following:
- Bus lanes along key corridors
- Bus priority signals
- Suburban interchanges
- Express bus network
- Park and Ride in satellite centres and outer-suburbs
- Cycle and Ride facilities at key nodes
marsoe
Christchurch Transport Blog 
Bradley
August 16, 2011
We already have some bus lanes which, while they work some of the time, the City Council just wont enforce the rules regarding there use. Reguarly along Papanui Road/Belfast you see cars parked in them while their owners do shopping.
jhumm
August 16, 2011
Yes and the roll out stalled prior to the earthquakes as well so the whole momentum was lost. I think the whole bus lane enforcement idea has kind of collapsed post the earthquakes, which is a shame because better bus services right now would be a real asset to the city…
John Walker
August 23, 2011
So are the bus lanes still in force or have they been abandoned because of the quakes?
bismarck
August 24, 2011
I think you might be being a bit overzealous jhumm….
“How about fast-tracking bus lanes by simply banning on street parking along key roads at certain times through some make-shift signage, markings and media releases? ”
After the Feb quake, much of the city’s roading was gridlocked… Sure there were no buses at all running for a short time, but mostly it was because the roading network in Christchurch suddenly lacked a significant amount of roadway – that being in the CBD.
Since then, some of the CBD roads have reopened, but still, areas particularly in the Riccarton-Addington area are still heavily congested during the day.
The council have done a pretty good job trying to improve traffic flows in light of the quake – they’ve increased approach lanes in to and out of key intersections, added a lane on Curletts Road, changed turning lane arrangements and others. This is to help IMPROVE people’s mobility
The problem I have with your suggestion of banning parking and putting in temporary bus lanes etc is simply that this will just further aggravate the road user who will only find it more difficult to get around than it already is.
Yes, I know your argument… “If the buses had their own lanes then half of the car drivers will use the bus thus making more room for everyone”
That is a great theory but is far from practical given that peoples work patterns have changed, their workplaces relative to their home has changed and with the increased bus journey times (from traffic congestion AND the fact their is no central city exchange), it makes it just too hard – Adding some impromptu bus lanes, tinkering with routes and making a temp exchange isn’t going to cut it… Getting a city back to normal by finishing the demo work in the CBD, fast-tracking the central city rebuilding plan and “getting on with it” will achieve far more.
Also it is worth noting that for the nearly 2 weeks after the Feb quake there were virtually NO bus services at all – This is understandable as bus drivers are people too and they have their friends and families to look after… That is of course little comfort for all the people who chose to NOT have a car and rely on buses for their travel needs. These people found themselves stranded with having to WALK some distance to get to a shop, find water supplies, go to a toilet etc…
In summary… in the aftermath of the quake… it was the private motor car that saved the day and gave people mobility… not the buses.
jhumm
August 24, 2011
Not sure what you are trying to say there really… I don’t know how you got to your summary, nor what my post had to do with it!
The impromptu bus lane thing was just a bit of spit balling and represented my desire for some ‘out of the box’ ideas. I certainly wasn’t advocating the wholesale banning of car parking but rather peak time removal in some key places (for example leading into key intersections) to aid time keeping and improve the overall quality of key routes. I think you are being slightly overzealous in interpreting what I am saying here!
Urban crawl.
October 5, 2011
Listen, bismark, you dummy! When you say it was the motorcar who “saved the day” what do you mean by “save the day”? You mean by creating heaps of congestion and traffic snarls around every road in Christchurch, so no one can move???? Mass auto-mobility will never “save the day”; if everyone had ditched their cars and gotten on bicycles/walked, even without buses, I gaurantee trip times would have been much less, congestion would’ve been close to nill, and emergency vehicles would have been able to reach their destinations. People like you are the reason NZ transportation/land use is still stuck in the 1960s.