An Experience

I've been using the buses a bit more lately and decided to do a little report on my experiences. Firstly, I needed to get from Papanui to Rolleston. These were my options:

1) - Catch the #10/14 etc to Merivale, Metrostar to Hornby then #520 to Rolleston
2) - Catch the #10/14 etc to the CBD, #5 to Hornby, #520 to Rolleston
3) - Catch the Orbiter to Ilam, Metrostar to Hornby, #520 to Rolleston

All three options involve transferring twice to get to my destination. While I accept that transferring is a concept widely accepted in most parts of the world it bugs me is that my trip isn't exactly roundabout. In fact, the second transfer at Hornby is pointless! The #520 should operate through from Christchurch with connections to other services at the CBD, Riccarton & Hornby. However, Metro/Ecan see it fit to turn the service into a shuttle from Hornby that runs once per hour (my only options to connect with the #520 were 18:55 & 19:55). Not exactly a seamless service!

The time it takes to use public transport to get to/from Rolleston is a joke, it is little wonder only one per cent of trips made between Rolleston & Christchurch are made using public transport. No one in their right mind would call this service tolerable, let alone an asset.

The main problems are:

• termination of the #520 at Hornby (shuttle nature of the service)
• low service frequency (one an hour)
• lack of connectivity between other services

If the service ran from the CBD people could access most parts of Christchurch with just the one transfer. Rolleston itself is fast approaching a population of 10-15 000 so I fail to see why this link is lagging behind. Services could run express through the city stopping only at Riccarton, Ilam & Hornby to connect with other services.

Rangiora has a direct service every half hour during weekdays, stylised as the 'Northern Star', running via Kaiapoi, Belfast and Papanui. Why can't Rolleston? What makes it worse is that you have to wait around in Hornby, often at night for some commuters, which isn't exactly the safest scenario. In short, I have found this service to represent all that is wrong with Christchurch's public transport system. Too slow, too infrequent and not much use.

Christchurch Mayor Supports Rail Reinstatement

While at times I think that Mayor Bob Parker is the wannabe dictator of Christchurch, I must confess the man does operate with a vision. Part of his vision is to plan smarter, more long-term solutions for our transport needs. Recently, in an article in the KiwiRail 'Express', Mayor Parker was questioning whether our transport planning was delivering the best possible solution. It would seem to him that it is not, and I, for one, certainly agree.

When you consider that our current system is failing, and detrimental to our economic performance and lifestyles, you start to realise that we cannot continue to put all our eggs in one basket. That line of thinking is what got us the 1962 Christchurch Transport Masterplan, where barely a paragraph was given to public transport. The result of this line of thinking is that if we continue it we will always be behind the eight ball, so to speak. Our road building has never kept up with demand, and with the Christchurch urban area growing at it's current and projected rate, it will continue to fall behind. Whats more, this way of thinking is incredibly expensive, not just in the first phase but also in developing increased capacity in the long term. This simply adds to the bare fact that 'roading' our way towards a transport solution (ala the 1962 'Masterplan') is impossible, we haven't been able to do it, we can't do it and we never will.

So with this in mind Bob's comments on Newstalk ZB that key entry points are at the maximum capacity, and even operating beyond maximum capacity hit home a little more. Sure, we can build more roads to relieve congestion but it won't keep pace with growth because it's too expensive to do so. Alternatives are needed to make the road system work as it should and to provide a properly functioning transportation system. Alternatives with more flexibility when it comes to capacity, and with lower long-term development costs which negate the need to build an illogical road system that will never keep pace with demand.

At this time Bob is talking rail as a solution to relieve key entrance points into the city. The last census puts the commuting population entering the city from outside (e.g Rolleston, Rangiora etc) at 16 000, so considering the growth rates of the Waimakariri and Selwyn districts and their ever increasing high rates of Christchurch workers you really get a feel for how many that might be now, and how fast it must be increasing. With only one per cent of commuters opting to use the bus services in these districts there needs to be development of suitable alternatives to attract greater patronage and ease the congestion at key points on the road system. As Bob himself point's out, 500 people using trains from Rangiora and Kaiapoi means 500 less cars coming in from the north on our roads. Bob also points out that park and ride would be suitable for Rangiora, Kaiapoi and Rolleston and that they could really work well with a rail service. If you've read some of my other posts you will know that this is something I have been screaming for and have already pointed out how it works well with the nature of those areas (a nature Ecan seems to believe provides an excuse for forgetting about public transport altogether).

Bob may not be everyone's cup of tea but it is good to see our Mayor with a vision that doesn't smack of ignorance and uses common sense. Unfortunately, he has a lot of hurdles to cross, first on the list being Ecan and second on the list being a central government that would probably support the 1962 Christchurch Transport Masterplan as a triumph of 21st Century thinking. Nevertheless, it is a start, lets just hope it leads somewhere. Perhaps a Christchurch 'Super City' taking in the urbanised parts of the Waimakariri & Selwyn District Councils and being delegated Ecan's powers over it's jurisdiction would be a good start. However, thats for another forum.

Commuting Chaos for Rolleston

A little bit of old news (I was supposed to post this days ago) but last week there was a very interesting article in the Selwyn Times. Of course this is just the local rag so it must be taken for what it is but it did seem to give a good indication of the mood of Rolleston residents towards transport policy. Basically, as Rolleston continues to grow, the percentage of the population that works in Christchurch continues to increase. The 2008 population estimate for Rolleston was about 7000, up significantly from 3822 recorded in the 2006 census. The article reported that residents should get used to increased congestion on the commute into Christchurch, something which I would agree with. The total population of Rolleston is expected to reach about 15 000 sometime around 2015 from memory and with cheap land, a strong Canterbury/Christchurch economy and subsequent continued high internal migration from other parts of New Zealand I don't even see the recession slowing this growth down (in fact I think you could argue that in the long term it could increase population growth).

Anyway, what was most interesting about this article was that a couple of locals who both seemed to be of the opinion that the local bus service wasn't good enough and that the nature of a bus service for such a long commute wasn't at all appealing. Both locals interviewed claimed that they would use a regular rail service if there was one, so long as it was frequent and took full advantage of it's right of way by getting them into the city quicker. One of the interviewees claimed if it could be done in twenty minutes he would most definitely use it.

I take two things from this article. First, no matter what Ecan claims, their bus service simply isn't good enough. Where is park and ride? Where is cycle and ride? Where is a modern bus station with information and shelter from winter weather? Where are bus lanes? Where is the frequency? No wonder no one uses it.

Second, local authorities are blind. There is a perfectly good double track rail line running from Rolleston to the city. Heck there is even a station and car park. Yet despite hundreds of submission the 'Rolleston Transport and Environs' study for ignoring the potential of rail in reducing car use between Selwyn and Christchurch. The prevailing opinion is that rail will not be worthwhile until Rollestons population reaches 50 000 yet this is unsubstantiated and ignorant. In my mind, 15 000 is just as likely a threshold for the success of some type of rail service being effective in increasing accessibility between Rolleston and Christchurch and it could be planned for now. Rail would be fast and have a flexible capacity. It fits park and ride like a glove (and park and ride fits Rolleston like a glove), is more comfortable, and could provide seamless transfers to the bus system at Hornby and Addington to other parts of the city. As well as Rolleston it could also serve Templeton and Isllington and would have a schedule of between 20 and 30 minutes from Rolleston to the City (based on timetables from the 1960's!!!).

All in all it is little wonder that public transport is under utilised and marginal in Selwyn. Ecan rely on a bus service designed for short commutes in a built up city in a bid to entice people out of their cars when, in reality, any public transport needs to be adapted to the nature of the areas it operates in. This should be simple, easy, yet they fail due to ignorance. The argument that no one uses public transport or that public transport in these areas doesn't work is just ridiculous when they haven't even developed it for the area in mind. I have pointed out time and again the obvious measures that need to be adopted to make public transport work in Selwyn and I have pointed out many again. When will some one listen?