Bus Services

The new infrastructure provides the roading network and associated facilities to improve bus travel. But to be truly effective, the new Busway system has a network of bus services that enable people to travel to and from their desired destinations in a convenient and reliable manner. A critical part of this is the development of a new network of bus services that optimise the opportunity that the new infrastructure provides.

A range of different services are being provided and can be accommodated, because buses can pass each other through the stations. Real time passenger information systems make it easy to find out when the next bus will arrive. Our aim is to provide and maintain bus services that are fast and reliable throughout the North Shore. These services include:

• A high frequency, all stops service (Northern Express)
• Peak express services with local pick-ups and drop-off (last pick up/first drop off being the first station they access)
• Local services that will access busway stations

The Northern Express service travels the full length of the busway (from Albany to Britomart) stopping at each station. Passengers can access these services by walking or cycling to the stations, transferring from local buses and by using the park-and-ride and kiss-and-ride facilities provided.

The Northern Busway and the Busway stations have been designed on the basis of creating quick boarding times for passengers. To achieve this the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) is currently developing a smartcard ticketing system, which will integrate all modes of passenger transport and allow passengers to board and transfer just by the swipe of a card. ARTA is currently planning on implementing the system across the region in 2010. The new transferable Northern Pass, which has been available to North Shore commuters since the opening of the Northern Busway, can be used on bus services across the North Shore and is ARTA’s first step towards the introduction of a single transferable ticket.

Albany and Constellation stations opened in November 2005, and within the first six months, the Northern Express was carrying on average 50,000 trips per month. Thirty-nine percent of its passengers had previously driven cars into the city before it was launched.