Where Next? Part One: Improving Our Bus System

This is the first post in a series detailing some ideas on where we can go from what we have now in terms of transport options for Greater Christchurch. It will be limited to utilising and improving as much existing infrastructure as possible in order to generate better ideas and cheaper options and to keep it realistic. In part one, I want to look at a way in which we could improve the current bus system with a concept I have called 'Metro Express'.

Metro 'Express'?

My idea is to develop a series of key bus routes, along the cities busiest corridors, which would be direct and would make a limited number of stops. They would make use of bus lanes and other bus priority measures, would be frequent and have a larger capacity than other buses and would be smart card only (no cash fares). Basically they would operate more like a rail or light-rail system complete with 'stations' made up of more prominent bus stops with 'Express' badging. The idea is to make the bus system easier to use, more attractive and more efficient at getting you to your destination.

Here is an example of a route which could be implemented to New Brighton;



The red line is the route and the black dots are the 'stations' being the only stops that the bus would make (notice the city 'station' is located where the new transport interchange would be). Of course, this is only an example, more stops may be required or less may be sufficient but the point is they would be limited. In addition, this route would take advantage of bus lanes planned for the New Brighton routes but would offer a faster, more efficient method of utilising them. Call it 'Light-Rail Light' if you will, nevertheless it is much cheaper and more likely an idea to be implemented now and get more people using public transport. Other routes I could see this system being implemented on include Sumner, the Airport, Halswell, Cashmere, Riccarton, Queenspark and basically anywhere where there are bus lanes to be developed.

In addition to the nature of the route another aspect of the 'Metro Express' concept would be the buses themselves. Adding to the efficiency and speed of the service would be greater capacity. It is perhaps about time we looked at articulated 'bendy' buses and I believe it would be more than appropriate to allocate them to this type of service. Not only do articulated buses have greater capacity than double decker's, they also have faster boarding and alighting due to having three sets of doors. Below is an example of an articulated bus in Sydney operating on the Metrobus service which is similar to what I am proposing here.

Other features of the service would be on board computer announcements for stops, destinations and transfers and a set frequency, similar to the Orbiter service. High frequencies would be ideal, perhaps 10 minutes at peak and 15 minutes off peak during weekdays and 15 minutes all day on weekends. As patronage increases frequency could be increased on some routes. There would also be a common brand across all routes.

In the end I believe that this concept is a basic, cheap and quick way to increase public transport use. Routes are basic and permanent like light-rail, there is greater capacity and increased speed and efficiency over other bus routes. It will be easier to use, more attractive to commuters and offer a much advanced alternative to using your car. Perhaps most of all though, it's costs will be low and it will utilise existing infrastructure where possible.