Bus Lane Implementation on Papanui Road

Finally, we are about to see some progress on the issue of bus lanes!!! The Christchurch City Council has announced that on 17 August construction of bus lanes for Papanui Road will begin. There will be seven stages with each stage taking about two-three weeks to complete and the whole thing should be up and running by mid December. When completed the bus lanes will stretch along Papanui and Main North Roads from Bealey Ave to the Northern Motorway just north of Belfast (its a shame they will not extend onto the motorway, bus lanes would be a much more appropriate option than an extra traffic lane).

The Council has indicated that lanes will be either full-time or part-time but has not indicated which parts of the current development are which. Full-time bus lanes operate 24 hours a day, while part-time bus lanes will operate 7am-9am inbound and 3pm-6pm outbound (except outside schools from 3pm-4pm). Enforcement is an issue I am concerned with but I am glad to see that they are following the London example and cars parked in lanes will be immediately towed while those caught travelling in the lanes will be fined $150. The lanes will likely be administered by the City Councils parking wardens and the New Zealand Police Force.

There are other upgrades mooted as well, including new shelters and improved stops altogether. It is also important to note that cyclists will be able to use the bus lanes as well, this is good, as I am all for encouraging more cycling, but I wonder how much of a danger this could be, or whether it will hold up buses? It seems to work in London, so I guess we will have to see. There is also some controversy over the fact that much on street parking will make way for these bus lanes. I believe it is a small price to pay, the benefits far outweigh the costs and there is plenty of parking down side streets. Plus it works fine overseas, it is just a case of moving with the times (well this effort is still 40 years too late!).

Finally I want to point out three things. First, there is no other mention of other bus priority measures such as bus signals. I feel such measures can only aid bus lanes and transit times. Second, expect a similar announcement for the southern portion of Colombo Street towards Cashmere some time soon with similar completion dates. Finally, I must point out that many of the planned bus lanes are simply too far away from being a reality. The Sumner route isn't planned until 2013/14 and Cranford Street until 2017/18. This is unacceptable, more funding must be made available for these initiatives. To find out more about bus priority measures in Christchurch the Council has a very helpful website while if you want to check out the relevant press release visit here. All in all this news is excellent and is a start to finally making public transport in Christchurch a realistic opion for everyday people. Hopefully we will see more of this in the near future.