NZ In Tranzit

Temporary Bus Exchange at Parkside as autumn heads for winter. Nine weeks on - What is Metro's next step ? The temporary bus service for Christchurch city gratefully received in the week immediately after the February 22nd earthquake is starting to wear a bit thin, particularly so now it is two months down the track and wintery weather starts to get more common.For those dependent upon buses the complications of the temporary or emergency cut deeply into their time and freedom, in ways that often seem unnecessary.  I think it would be reassuring for most people to know what Metro's game plan, because the current set-up seems a long way away from being adequate. BACK TO WORK It is believed about 10,000 people have lost their jobs due to businesses that have collapsed, literally or financially, or can't be accessed because of the expected closure of some central areas for many months while several unsafe high rises ar...

"As any bus passenger will tell you, a twenty minute wait is three  to four times longer than a ten minute wait!!" Above; The classic example ! Two buses arriving simultaneously after about a 20 minute wait (another passenger at the same stop said "yesterday I had to wait 25 minutes").  Passing two buses in The Orbiter service heading in the opposite direction, about two minutes later, crossing Brougham Street expressway. After shopping in Barrington Mall I rejoin The Orbiter opposite Spreydon Library heading north.  After a lengthy period in which quite a few passengers gather - again - two buses arrive simultaneously Recently I have taken to using The Orbiter and The Metrostar more often than normal. This is partly because these cross-town routes offer potentially faster journeys than the radial routes which have been split in half and rejoined with sellotape! Traveling around town on The Orbiter can be faster than cutting across town. Also, unless tr...

Photo Source "Public Transport in Ottawa" Blog Move over SUVs, Ferraris, BMWs and 18 wheelers; move over Intercity, Atomic, Naked Bus and other bus operators, the  mad bus driver is coming through!! Yes he or she is hurtling north from Timaru at 260 kmph. with 23 passengers - and with possums, hitch-hikers and slow motorists bouncing off the bonnet! Well maybe.  The superbus is real, a prototype was recently launched .  I can't help thinking, hey, this is just an update on the old "service cars" that delivered much of the travel between towns and cities in New Zealand before world war two. Instead of a centre aisle each row of padded seats had their own external doors, most of them were built on the chassis of big American cars such as Packards and Cadillacs - wonderful looking machines. However the idea that rural commuter services might be operated by district councils and ECAN allowing South Canterbury people travel within their area and others to tra...

Dunedin City Holdings, the city council's commercial arm,  has decided to sell Citibus,  its bus operation. This follows recurring financial losses and most recently loss of several routes in tender rounds. Citibus purchased 17 new buses back in 2008 which may have added to its vulnerability and reduced its flexibility in putting forward competitive tenders. As with Redbus's major route losses in Christchurch it seems firms making big steps to upgrade fleet quality lay themselves open to losing contracts to those who can come in with, or take over, an older fleet. I am not familiar enough with the nitty gritty of public transport in Dunedin to add much by way of intelligent comment but my guess would be the comment by Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull in today's Otago Daily Times is perhaps the most pertinent [my bolding] "....Mr Cull rejected any suggestion ratepayers were about to lose a valuable asset. "It's a public asset that's losin...

Disaster for many but also opportunity - this blogster believes that city should investigate buying the site of these shops (now demolished), rebuild the chemist on a new corner site 50 metres northwards, and  take the opportunity to join Tennyson Street and Somerfield Street. This would allow removal of the awkward Strickland Street/Colombo St intersection  200 metres northwards and be part of creating a easy flow continuous secondary arterial ring road linking QEII Drive in the city's north to Barrington Street in the south. Every man and his dog has now become a town planner of the new "Sure to Rise" post-earthquakes Christchurch.  I may as well join the throng, though I confess to only the most limited knowledge of relevant statistics (such as traffic stats). As a full-time by choice bus user I don't normally give too much attention to the needs of those pesky motorists! My concept is based on six ring roads, ...

Getting around earthquake-riven Christchurch by skateboard has some  definite advantages over bus or car and heaps of cool opportunities !  All captured in this groovy you tube , already an icon of our times 48 hours after first posting.

"I think extending The Metrostar as proposed in the 2010-2016 Metro Strategy - particularly extended back through south Christchurch - is just a waste of resources, better spent on advancing development of a much needed western suburbs link service." MetroStar - about to head westwards from New Brighton across the inner northern suburbs to Halswell. But is a likely return loop via the city's southern suburbs truly warranted or should Metro be looking to target resources to other areas of greater obvious need first? As mentioned in the last posting I am not sure whether Metro's review of cross town services, The Orbiter and The MetroStar has now closed its letterbox flap or whether the whole process has been up-ended by the explosive disruption of the devastating February earthquake. Metro when it advertised the service review cautioned transit consumers and other interested persons about not expecting too many changes. This said there has long ...

Before the February 22 earthquake ripped most normality from our lives Metro was holding a service review of the two cross town services "The Orbiter " and " Metrostar ". Whether the "send-in your comments" date has passed, or this review has been suspended in the meantime I am not sure, the promo bit on the website has disappeared.  One could hardly blame Metro for putting in the non-urgent basket as they struggle to try to restart some sort of temporary service pattern that operates without the core central city exchange. As remembered the wording for this review was somewhat guarded, words and hints to the effect "it should be realised major changes in such popular routes are unlikely". It is hard to mess with a winning formula, I know,  but I do see one thing I believe that must be done if Metro (and CCC) are going to meet their commitments to creating transfer stations in the coming years. Currently much of the Christchurch system is ...