Two regular public transport users share the trials of recent rides.
Two regular public transport users share the trials of recent rides.
Opinion
Two regular users — Roger Hall on the buses and Barry Jenkins on the trains — share the trials of recent rides
Roger Hall writes:
On a Saturday morning I walked to get the bus due to leave from Takapuna for the city at 11.10am. I allowed plenty of time to get to the bus stop but as I rounded the corner, the bus was leaving. The time was 11.05 - it had left five minutes early. There are few things more infuriating than a driver who doesn't stick to the timetable and it meant I had to wait 20 minutes for the next bus.
It is good that there is to be a long-term review for Auckland's public transport (in my case, I'm talking about buses), but a short-term - and cost-free - review could improve life for passengers.
More common than buses leaving early are those buses that simply disappear. One arrives at the bus stop and the board tells you that your next one is due in (say) eight minutes' time and the countdown begins. Then, when it is down to two minutes, it disappears off the board. It is not going to come. One can only assume that once again aliens have landed and whisked the bus away into outer space.
So if buses disappear or take off early, it means one cannot rely on the one you have looked up in the timetable will actually be there. This means I aim for a bus earlier than the one I need. (Take a book.)
It shouldn't be this way. But improvements could be made if more drivers were reminded that there were passengers on board and that many of them are elderly (especially since the arrival of Gold Card).
Many drivers take off before people are seated. Earlier this year a woman bus driver took off from the Devonport Ferry stop in such a hurry that an 80-year-old man fell heavily against one of the poles and gashed his arm. When this was reported to her she showed little interest and no concern.
(On the other hand, I was once standing to take off my jacket and was taking so long about it, the driver eventually asked me to sit down so he could set off. Quite right, too.)
Once under way, many drivers still drive far too quickly. Aggressive acceleration jerks people around and continual fierce braking has people swaying backwards and forwards as though they were on a ride at Rainbows End. Between Takapuna and Esmonde Rd, many buses go so fast they clip the kerbs going round the corners.
A friend of mine used to train bus drivers in the UK. He told them to imagine that an elderly lady was one of their passengers sitting with a bowl of boiling water in her lap and that their job was to drive in such a way she didn't get scalded. An almost impossible aim, but safe to say that on most bus trips in Auckland, granny would have a lapful of water in the first 100m.
One of the biggest improvements in the bus service has been the introduction of Hop Cards, thus speeding up passengers getting on the bus. But we Gold Card holders do unwittingly hold things up a bit because, even though the fare is free, we have to be issued with a ticket. Why? The Wellington bus system doesn't issue tickets to Gold Card users.
In many countries no one is allowed on the bus without a ticket, thus freeing up the driver from handling any money and also speeding up the loading process. Surely these days visitors should be able to buy tickets electronically for a local bus system.
But let me acknowledge the enormous improvements in the 20 years since I've lived in Auckland: the introduction of the Link bus routes, the cheerfully colour-coded buses with their attractive designs on the outside; and, of course the Hop card that can now be used on more than one transport system.
So let's hope we can have more drivers who don't drive as though Queen's We Will Rock You is playing in their ears.
Indeed on that Saturday morning, the 11.25am bus driver was everything a driver should be. He arrived early but waited for two minutes at the stop so that he left on time; was polite and cheerful to all the passengers; and he drove sedately throughout the journey.
I live on a rural lifestyle block in South Auckland and work in the CBD. For two-and-a-half years I drove to work on the Southern Motorway but traffic snarl-ups were becoming an almost daily occurrence and I had to leave home earlier and earlier to avoid morning bottlenecks. A nose to tail would mean chaos.
So I switched to using Auckland Transport's southern line rail service, taking a train from Papakura to Britomart each day. At the free park and ride at Papakura station, a jovial security guard kept watch over the cars all day.
Photo / File
Initially, things weren't too bad. Occasionally there was a train failure or a staff issue which caused a cancellation, but on the whole the service was reasonably reliable and got me to work on time around 8am, by the time I walked up Queen St to my workplace.
Things have changed of late. All too often I get to the park and ride and see a shiny, new electric train sitting in the siding. Experience has taught me that this isn't a good sign. That train should be halfway down the track towards Pukekohe by now, before reversing back into the Papakura station and becoming the 6.48am service to Britomart.
I tag on and then, sure enough, an announcement comes over the public address system. Sorry folks but your 6.48am has been cancelled due to a train fault. People around me groan. This has become an all-too-frequent occurrence of late.
The next train is the 6.58am on a different platform. We march en masse over the rail bridge on to the designated platform and wait expectantly for the next train to arrive.
People around me grumble to each other, "third time this week" ... "this is ridiculous". I get talking to the lady next to me who tells me she got to work yesterday over half an hour late and she is embarrassed about it.
Initially I would give up when this happened, jump in my car and drive to work, but I soon found that driving to the CBD at 7am was too late. I would end up not arriving until 8.30am or later. Remember I'm supposed to be there at 8am.
The 6.58am train duly arrives already 5 minutes late, and two trainloads of people scramble into an already full train. It's going to mean standing all the way into Britomart cheek to cheek with other commuters.
The doors of this train stay open. This isn't a good sign either. After another 5 minutes, the guard walks through the carriages to say that the train won't be going any further as the driver is having trouble with the brakes.
The next service is the 7.06am. You guessed it, on another platform. All the people that normally catch the 6.48am train, together with all the people that normally catch the 6.58am train plus all the people that normally catch the 7.06am train are now all trying to board one train. Needless to say, it doesn't happen.
I give up, tag off and get back in my car and drive home. I'll book a day's annual leave and stay home today. I get charged $1.80 on my Hop card for the privilege of waiting around in the cold and wet for half an hour for cancelled trains that either don't arrive or don't leave.
I feel sorry for the people further up the line waiting on platforms for cancelled trains which don't arrive. They have no hope of even boarding a train by the time it gets to them.
The carriages are so packed with people that if people were cattle, I'm sure the SPCA would be taking Auckland Transport to court for inhumane treatment of animals.
Why is this happening virtually every day? Does Auckland Transport not have the staff or expertise to maintain its new electric rail fleet?
Senior management at Auckland Transport need a good rap over the knuckles over this fiasco and commuters want answers. If this is the future of Auckland's transportation system then I wonder perhaps if it is time to consider moving to another part of the country and leaving the "Super City" behind.
Barry Jenkins of Ramarama is an electrical engineer.
