The Wrong Side of my Car

The blog that wants to go obsolete

21 Apr 2017

Wsomc’s guide to the Midtown bus route consultation.

Auckland transport is doing another small consultation, this time to figure out how buses coming from New North Road (the successors of the current 221, 223 and others) will return to the west.

The 3 options for the return route are shown in dashed lines. The orange lines show a new proposed route for NEX buses.

The options

#1: The lollipop

This one is easy to explain, it’s the current route.

Pro:

AT’s preferred option, as it so helpfully points out in the title. Subtle, AT. Subtle.
Results in 2 lines on a transit map. So we score the more dense PT network illusion bonus.
Looks a little bit like a dog head. Or maybe a stork. GPS art on our bus maps, how cool would that be?

Contra:

It’s long and has lots of turns
Reported to be a slow and congested route
Lollipops are for suckers. Any transit planner worth his dough knows that because…
Generally a pain in the ass for users, it’s not immediately obvious on which line your bus will show up, and on average you’ll have a longer walk from and to that bus. *1
This will end Auckland Council’s ambition to create a linear park on Victoria Street.

#2: The line

This one is also easy to explain. It follows Wellesley Street.

Pro:

Straight and direct
Easy to understand, and easy to draw on transit maps. Aren’t transit routes supposed to look like this?
Follows the same line as that proposed NEX route, on the proposed Wellesley Street busway, which is an advantage if you’re transferring between those buses.

Contra:

The University of Auckland is really terrified of this route. Don’t ask me why, I really don’t know.
Straight lines looks boring.

#3: The line with the little box

This is a variation of number 2, but it has a slightly different solution for how to turn right from Wellesley Street to Symonds Street.

Pro and contra: the same as above, since the routes are so similar.

Conclusion

Which one to choose? Easy:

If you want your buses to run a bit smoother, vote for option #2.
If you want to score style points for drawing a little beagle head on transit maps, vote for option #1.

(*1)

Human Transit has a post about this.