KEY POINTS:
Auckland's $300 million buses-only spinal highway is up and running this week, offering commuters fast and efficient services every three minutes at peak times along its 6.2km route past four purpose-built stations - not counting the "off-line" Albany park-and-ride facility.
There is no doubt that cruising at 80km/h along a comparatively empty two-lane road beats stewing in motorway queues hands down for speed and efficiency, but the Herald found a weak link when it road-tested the North Shore's wider bus network yesterday, from Campbells Bay to our Albert St headquarters in the city.
A 15.6km bus-only trip by transport reporter Mathew Dearnaley, using 2km of the busway via the Smales Farm station and priority lanes for some other parts of the trip, took 52 minutes - not counting a 400m walk and 10-minute wait for a late bus.
That was bettered by a hybrid trip of 18.6km - 4.7km of it by car and 13.9km by bus along the busway and beyond - by assistant editor John Roughan in just under 42 minutes.
But the outright winner was health reporter Errol Kiong, who drove 15.8km via the Tristram Ave on-ramp to the Northern Motorway in 37 minutes.
Mathew Dearnaley
Bus all the way
68 minutes
It seems promising enough. A sparkling summer morning in Campbells Bay, lulling me into anticipation of an easy excursion through suburban North Shore before sailing down part of the long-awaited busway.
I've drawn the buses-only option in a three-legged contest to test a complex transport web of which the busway is the new heart and spine.
A Herald editor had queried the design of an earlier experiment in which I enjoyed the run of the busway, before it became fully operational, to beat car-driving reporter Errol Kiong from Constellation Drive.
Assistant editor John Roughan challenged us to make the sequel more real, starting at his place, and agreed to be roped in to the folly by driving to the Constellation "park and ride" station before trying his luck on a bus.
After a brisk four-minute walk, I'm joined at a bus-stop by several others excited at the prospect of a fast trip in a "new era" of public transport.
One young woman is thrilled about a new 43 per cent discount for tertiary students and looks forward to cruising through the Smales Park busway station instead of queuing interminably to reach the Northcote Rd motorway on-ramp.
But the wheels soon start falling off our hopes, after the 7.25am bus from Mairangi Bay arrives 10 minutes late, its driver confused about new transferable ticketing arrangements designed for seamless travel through the busway.
am: I board the 873 "express" service of NZ Bus and ask for a new day-pass, for unlimited travel through the lower part of the North Shore and across the harbour bridge for $8.60, regardless of which buses I use.
The driver insists I must pay $11 for a ticket I later discover will not allow me to transfer to the busway's main Northern Express service run by rival operator Ritchies.
I remonstrate, but he is even unaware of which new fare zone we are in, so I back off for fear of making the bus even more late. It is not until the end of the trip that I persuade him to swap tickets.
7.44am: Heavy traffic reduces us to a crawl along East Coast Rd, where the bus is filling with passengers getting grumpy about lengthening delays.
7.54am: We take on more commuters on Crown Hill, but have to leave about 10 behind as we have a full load of 55. Complaints are rife that the bus is smaller than their regular "bendy" bus and better preparations should have been made for Day One of the new system.
7.58am: On Shakespeare Rd, the log-jam ends and we cruise along a high-occupancy transit lane toward Smales Farm bus station.
8.06am: We nose into the station, and on to the busway, where we immediately gain on sluggish traffic alongside us on the motorway.
8.09am: After whizzing past the Akoranga station at the southern end of the busway, we merge with motorway traffic, grinding to another crawl as a sign announces a blockage of a harbour bridge lane.
8.17am: We reach the bridge, which is now relatively clear of traffic, but notice a broken-down bus being towed ahead of us - the cause of the latest delay.
8.30am: I step off the bus in Albert St, thankfully right outside the Herald's front door, but feel drained after 52 minutes on a crowded bus and a house-to-office journey of 68 minutes.
2pm: I hear an Auckland Regional Transport Authority spokeswoman say on radio that the first day of the busway has gone "very well".
John Roughan
Park and Ride
42 minutes
My car is spending the day on a sunny suburban slope, strictly in the interests of science. Ever sceptical of mass transport schemes for sprawling Auckland, I could hardly duck this challenge.
Don't knock it, they said, until you've tried it.
am: Sportingly, I've given Dearnaley a few minutes' start. He is plodding across to the bus stop when I pass. Ahead, in a car, Errol Kiong turns to take my usual route. I go north, towards the nearest Park and Ride.
At East Coast Rd it takes a minute to turn against the traffic, then it is a matter of finding the Constellation Drive station. Near the motorway a sign appears.
7.34: This must be it. Some 250 cars are parked and there seem to be places for 100 more.
A gleaming new low-slung station has a couple of buses at the platform.
A sandwich board says, "Yes, you can take coffee on the bus", and a few people queue at the kiosk.
I board Stagecoach 1118, an express.
"A return to the city, please."
"We don't do return tickets," the driver replies. "We have single trips or day passes."
He wants $4.20 for the single, $11 for the day pass.
7.41: The bus leaves with 15 people on board and twice as many empty seats. Let's not worry about the stained, tatty fabric.
We are motoring along sedately, not fast but passing lines of cars on the motorway alongside.
We pass Sunnynook, Smales Farm and Akoranga stations, slowing but not stopping. Each already has a bus or two waiting to go.
7.48: The busway ends and we merge with crawling cars from Esmonde Rd.
7.50: Approaching the bridge, the pace slows, now cars in inside lanes are passing us.
7.54: Halfway up the bridge we squeeze past the obstruction to the outer lane - a broken-down bus, would you believe, on this of all days.
7.58: We have reached the Viaduct stop on Fanshawe St.
8.03: Downtown.
8.05: Albert St, right outside the Herald building. I stop the clock at 41 minutes and 53 seconds.
Not bad, I have to admit. In peak traffic it would take me this long by car.
And do I miss the car really?
Yes, I do.
Errol Kiong
Car all the way
37 minutes from park to park
I can't help but feel I've helped doom the planet. Or at least more so than usual. I got to Auckland CBD from North Shore first.
It can be argued that my 37-minute romp to work from Campbells Bay validates the car-is-king argument.
It was the cry of flawed methodology in December - when Mathew beat me 22 minutes to 44 when we raced from the Constellation bus station - that prompted the re-race.
So this time round, our starting point was a colleague's home in Campbells Bay, a third way of travel - the park-and-ride - was included, and we were free to use the most convenient route.
This was The Great Race 2: Rematch. Like all sequels, it promised more bang for your buck, plot twists aplenty and more characters plus all your, er, favourite ones from the first.
The journey by car, of course, assumes some caveats. First, that I'm part of the privileged few who get a work-provided CBD carpark.
Second, that I'm paid enough to live in Campbells Bay - and point-of-departure would have a significant impact on travel time.
And third, that traffic is not at its school season peak.
am: Armed with advice on the best route to the motorway, I leave Sandford St.
7.32: I am at the Tristram Ave on-ramp, having cut through Aberdeen Rd to East Coast Rd and then through Richards Ave to Forrest Hill Rd.
7.36: I am on the motorway. As I trundle along not breaking speed records, at least half a dozen buses zoom by on the busway - flashbacks of the first race.
I try not to see that as a harbinger of the outcome, and distract myself with commercial radio's topic of the morning: What is it about Scarlett Johansson?
As with the first race, the pace picks up after Esmonde Rd - only to slow again as we near the bridge. A Stagecoach bus has broken down on the left city-bound lane of the bridge. Boy, you just can't buy PR like this.
After clearing the scene, which is causing everyone to slow and gawk, it's a smooth ride into town.
8.02: I am at the office. I take the lift to the third floor.
Had I known I would win by a mile, I'd have taken the stairs ...
And run slow-mo to my desk ... the Chariots of Fire theme playing in my head.
