KEY POINTS:
Auckland City Council has put off for five months a decision on its Queen St bus-lanes proposal, after opposition from shopkeepers.
Councillors refused yesterday - by a 6-5 vote - to grant even conditional support for 24-hour bus lanes on the "Golden Mile" until staff can supply several more reports at a meeting in February.
The council's urban strategy and governance committee has called for:
* a second economic impact report;
* a "coherent transport plan" covering bus routes in Albert St and Symonds St as well as in Queen St;
* a transitional management plan to minimise the impact of bus lanes on retailers.
It also wants officers to consider a call from the management and 35 retailers of Queens Arcade for bus lanes to be introduced only at peak commuter times between Monday and Friday.
Although 64 per cent of 498 submissions supported bus lanes, an independent analysis found opposition among 83 per cent of 102 Queen St businesses and 93 per cent of 14 property owners.
The committee received a preliminary report which councillor Richard Northey, who was unsuccessful in urging support in principle for the bus lanes, said gave clear indications that businesses had much to gain.
His bid was supported by committee chairman and Deputy Mayor Bruce Hucker but opposed by Mayor Dick Hubbard.
Mr Northey said that despite the sacrifice of one general traffic lane in each direction, there would be no loss of short-term parking spaces and buses would bring greater patronage to a more attractive shopping precinct.
A fear that a 15 per cent reduction in general traffic predicted by council officers would harm business was based on "a bit of a corner-dairy mentality that people drive all the way to Queen St to see if there is a shop they want, and if not they will drive off to Takapuna."
People knew Queen St was Auckland's leading shopping district, so were prepared to drive to parking buildings, then walk.
He challenged an assumption of retailers that bus passengers and cyclists, who would be entitled to use the bus lanes, had less money to spend than motorists.
The economic report said greater accessibility from improved travel times along bus lanes had the potential to add 700 jobs to the central business district, and to increase earnings by up to $35 million a year.
But it was based on a council assumption that Queen St hosts 40,000 bus passengers a day, compared with a revised staff report to the committee yesterday of 25,700 people - a figure roughly equalling 25,800 car occupants.
Citizens and Ratepayers team leader Scott Milne accused Mr Northey of forgetting that the middle letter of CBD stood for "business" and urged him to listen to the pleas of local proprietors to provide a transition plan for bus lanes.
Action Hobson member Christine Caughey said the Queen St environment had been made "absolutely disgusting" by buses which she described as "filthy, dirty monsters" and she called for a world-class transport plan to revive central Auckland.
Independent councillor Faye Storer said that even with wider footpaths from the $43.5 million Queen St upgrade, pedestrians would be put at extra risk if buses - which were "just poisoning people" - were given the exclusive run of inside traffic lanes.
Even if buses were restricted to a new speed limit of 30km/h, which the council is proposing for all Queen St traffic, she said it would be "sorry, you drop dead" for people stepping out in front of them.
