KEY POINTS:
Being a disabled person, I have tried to use the Akoranga bus station to make my ventures into central Auckland much easier. However, upon getting there in my car I found that parking is for 15 minutes only. Even with the fast new service I can't get into the city and back in that time. The council - I have rung it four times - has listened to my plea and said it "hadn't considered disabled people needing to park, and would address the issue". So far nothing has happened. Could you help please?
Peter Carter, Takapuna.
Be happy to. The response I received from the council is rather more hopeful. It plans to review the short-term parking at the Akoranga and Smales Farm bus stations, and making accessible parking for the disabled longer term is one option.
But short-term parking is a deliberate move at these stations - they call them "kiss and ride" facilities ("Bye darling. See you tonight").
Long-term accessible parking is available at the Albany and Constellation stations, which are park and ride.
I have, for some time now, been rather intrigued by the man with a camera outside the brewery in Khyber Pass during what appears to be peak times. Are you able to shed any light?
Sonet Venter, Auckland.
The man is there at the council's behest. He's taking pictures of the motorists who illegally drive down the bus lanes, so the council might fine them and thereby ruin their day. For general edification, the left lane in Khyber Pass heading towards Newmarket is a designated bus lane between 7am and 9am and again between 4pm and 6pm.
At the lights in Three Lamps in Ponsonby, coming from Herne Bay, I have noticed there is only one right-turn lane to get to Ponsonby Rd. But a lot of cars in the middle lane seem to like to turn right here too. I think that this used to be allowed, and obviously these folk think it still is. Should it be marked more clearly to prevent this happening?
Angela Morgan, Auckland.
I went out for a look, and spotted a sign saying, 'Buses only may turn right from the middle lane'. As well, there is only a straight-ahead arrow in the middle lane. Like you, I have a feeling it used to be permitted, but now a right turn from the middle lane for anything other than a bus is prohibited.
Could you please clarify whether the cycle advance stop boxes at traffic lights can also be used by motorcycles? I noticed when you addressed this question a couple of weeks ago, there was a motorcycle in the stop box in the photograph.
Barbara Mckinney, Epsom.
No. The green-painted stop boxes are for cyclists only. In defence of the motorcyclist, though, the photograph was taken before little pictures of push-bikes were added to the boxes on this particular corner, as I predicted they might be.
