Furious commuters queuing to complain

By GEOFF CUMMING

Motorists have come out from behind the wheel to vent their rage at Auckland's inadequate transport system.

Hundreds have responded to the Herald's Getting Auckland Moving campaign with outpourings of despair and anger; many have offered innovative suggestions and solutions as well.

Most applaud the Herald for giving them the opportunity to raise their plight, in the hope it will prompt meaningful action from authorities.

Transit New Zealand has asked the Herald to pass on readers' complaints and solutions, while other agencies and politicians are monitoring the campaign.

The Herald has been flooded with examples of the vast lengths to which commuters go to beat peak-time delays as they crawl around the city; and the hopelessness which many feel at the lack of alternatives to the private car.

There are stories of firms moving three times to be able to supply clients; of workers changing jobs or shifting neighbourhoods; of ever-longer travel times and rising fuel bills; of queue-jumping and illegal use of bus lanes; of road rage and health and safety fears.

One small business estimates that time lost to the motorway system costs it $10,000 a year.

Inadequate or poorly designed motorway on-ramps are a common target. The crunch points: the south-eastern highway connection and the northbound on-ramp at Penrose on the Southern Motorway; Onewa Rd on the Northern Motorway; and Lincoln Rd on the Northwestern Motorway.

Many motorists say they have tried buses and trains but found services infrequent or unreliable, and that routes do not take them where they need to go.

But there is strong support for improving the public transport network rather than carving out more roads.

"If we upgrade, increase, widen, strengthen and so on we will only put more cars on the roads," says one woman, who changed jobs, for less pay, to reduce her travel time.

However, many drivers stress that they need to move around the city throughout the day on business, and public transport lacks the flexibility they need.

"I can't think of any way that a public transport system would help me," said a Glendene woman, who commutes to Manukau City.

For some, with time to think as they sit through the jams, the sky's the limit when it comes to solutions.

"Rather than engage in major earthworks, erect a secondary motorway above the existing one," says John Reynolds.

"We don't have much room on the ground but there's plenty in the sky. Let's use it. Costly - yes, but the saving would be enormous.

"The motorway could be entered near the base of the Harbour Bridge and would exit at some point south of the Greenlane interchange, carrying all traffic heading for destinations south of the central city. This would radically reduce the queues on the Harbour Bridge."

Others disputed suggestions that there was no room to widen the motorway between Hobson St and Greenlane, the city's worst bottleneck.

One said lanes could be cantilevered above the main trunk railway line which runs beside the motorway from Newmarket to Penrose.

Brian Nicol of Mt Roskill believes a Skybus operating above arterial roads offers advantages.

"I travelled on one in Bangkok - it was fantastic. To get above the traffic at speed is unbelievable."

He says most Auckland roads are too narrow for light rail and the design of the Skybus track system blends in well with the surroundings.

He nominated Dominion Rd, Great North Rd, Mt Eden Rd, Jervois Rd and alongside the Northern Motorway as "immediately suitable" for a Skybus.

Herald Campaign: Getting Auckland Moving

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The Herald welcomes your commuter experiences. Tell us about the inconvenience of congestion, the lengths you go to beat it, the cost to business and any positive experiences.

By e-mail: Geoff Cumming, Jason Collie

By fax: 09 373-6421

By letter: PO Box 3290, Auckland