Bus Network | Meadowbank and St Johns Residents Association

On Sunday 8 July 2018, Auckland Transport launched a new bus network for Auckland’s central suburbs. Most services changed, including bus routes, route numbers, timetables and some bus stops.

Sign our petition to extend the bus network to St Johns Park

21 November 2018

What is the petition about?

Residents in the St Johns Park area are concerned that there is no longer a bus service due to the former #635 route being cancelled with the changes made to the bus network in July 2018. As a result MBSJRA are sponsoring a petition requesting Auckland Transport to alter the bus network to cover the former #635 bus area in St Johns Park. We need your help to ensure that Auckland Transport understands that this issue is important to local residents.

Auckland Transport have shown that they are prepared to review bus routes based on demonstrated support, as shown by the two previously successful petitions set up by local resident Richard Roxburgh and strongly supported by this Association. As a direct result of these previous petitions we now have a bus route to Meadowbank Train Station, on past Selwyn College and St Thomas’ School to Mission Bay. We want the St Johns Park area be included in the new bus network in such a way that residents in this area can also enjoy the bus route that resulted from the previous petitions.

If a bus service in St Johns Park is of concern to you, we urge you to add weight to what we are requesting from Auckland Transport by signing the petition.

How can I sign the petition?

The petition is being circulated and will be available at our monthly meetings on 11 December 2018 and 12 February 2019. You can also download a petition sheet here, print it, sign it (get some friends to sign too!) and post to MBSJRA, PO Box 87285, Meadowbank, Auckland 1742.

Note: MBSJRA undertakes only to use the information that you provide in this form specifically for the purpose of this petition. It will be presented it to Auckland Transport but not shared with any other third party.

What can I do to help?

The next step in gathering signatures is to consider taking the petition door to door but for this we need volunteers please – if you can help by covering your own street or even part of it please get in touch, or even just print a sheet, go ahead and start gathering signatures.

Information to consider when signing this petition

The purpose of the petition is to influence Auckland Transport to alter the new Bus Network which took effect in July 2018 so that the St Johns Park area is included in the network in such a way that residents in that area will also have a bus connection with the Meadowbank Town Centre, the Meadowbank Train Station, Selwyn College and St Thomas’ School and to the waterfront at Mission Bay.

There are four reasons for this:

The New Bus Network eliminated the previous #635 bus which means the nearest public transport available to residents in the St Johns Park area is the bus route on St Johns Rd which entails a walk of up to 900m for some residents to the closest bus stop. This walk is a significant barrier to the use of public transport, from the viewpoint that it is time-consuming (the walk to St Johns Rd could take up to 15 minutes) and more importantly, for residents who are elderly or disabled, the walk which is up/down a significant slope is daunting and more so in both hot summer and cold/wet winter weather conditions.
The St Johns Park area includes residents in an older age range and it is felt likely (for reasons of relatively high property values and a more restrictive zoning) that average ages are likely to increase over time. Without convenient access to public transport, residents in this area will effectively be left with no option but to either remain house-bound, to use private vehicles for their whole journey or to park on St Johns Rd or at the Meadowbank Train Station to access public transport. Parking at either of these locations is problematic.
The 635 bus did not provide access to the Meadowbank Train Station meaning the change we are proposing would open up a larger catchment area for public transport by rail as well as providing a public transport link with the Meadowbank Town Centre (including what will be a new Community Centre), Selwyn College and St Thomas’ School and with the waterfront.
Meadowbank Train Station now has even more limited car parking available. Currently commuters are parking on residential streets throughout the day in many of the Meadowbank streets, commonly extending up to the Meadowbank Road / Tahapa Crescent intersection. This may be partially alleviated by a more efficient bus connection.

New Bus Network Live on 8 July 2018

21 May 2018

Auckland Transport is bringing in a New Bus Network in July 2018. Many bus routes, numbers and timetables will change. More detailed information is available here including a detailed overall bus map and individual route maps.

Key points about local services are summarised below (best read in conjunction with the route map):

Our 655, 685 and 635 routes are being removed.
There will be a new service (782) travelling through Meadowbank which will start at Sylvia Park and run via Ellerslie train station, Grand Drive, Meadowbank Mall, Meadowbank Rd, Meadowbank Train Station, Gowing Drive, Kohimarama Rd (including St Thomas’ and Selwyn College) and Patterson Ave to Mission Bay. We are not clear on the frequency yet for this service.
There is also a new half hourly 747 route along Lunn Ave, the first ever bus service through there, and through Stonefields.
The 650 (formerly 007 route) has a change at the western end to go along St Luke’s Rd. It now heads west along Great North Rd before heading up to Pt Chevalier – very handy for Unitec students living over this side of town.
The 75 (formerly 625 route) has changed it’s route in the CBD and now doesn’t run near the ferry terminal and instead terminates in the Wynyard Quarter.

Many thanks to the two petitions masterminded by association member Richard Roxburgh with support from Orakei Local Board, which means there will now be a public bus service to connect Meadowbank & St Johns residents with Selwyn College and St Thomas’s schools, as well as right down to Meadowbank Train Station. See our news article Bus petition win! for more information.

Here are the individual route maps that pass through our area:

Route 75 (Glen Innes to Wynyard Quarter via Remuera Rd)
Route 650 (Glen Innes to Pt Chevalier shops and Selwyn Village)
Route 782 (Sylvia Park to Mission Bay via Ellerslie and Meadowbank)
Centre City Bus Map

New bus network: Meadowbank Train Station will be connected!

25 November 2017

New bus network: Meadowbank Train Station will be connected!

AT have released the new bus network and, although the link below still says that the #729 link to Meadowbank Train Station is subject to further investigation, AT has just confirmed that this will go ahead, from the start of the new network, in July 2018.

Naturally, we are delighted about this outcome. We acknowledge the work of the Orakei Local Board: they have been meeting with AT fortnightly to work through this issue among other things. They have heard the overwhelming support from our members and residents generally. Not only that we want the bus service extended to Meadowbank Station, but that we regard this as a positive step to address the car parking challenges in the area.

To the more than 1,000 of you who got involved and signed one of Richard Roxburgh’s petitions, in the mall one Saturday afternoon, or at the station on a cold winter’s morning: give yourselves a pat on the back!

The details still need to be worked out, and our work continues, in particular as we advocate for a good level of service, and useful operating hours for the new #729 (note the correct description should be Ellerslie Station to Mission Bay via Meadowbank and Grand Drive). As you can see in the timetables in the same link the #729 is proposed to run hourly, and not after 9 pm weekdays and not on weekend evenings at all. This may work for transferring to your train, especially through the day when there’s a train every 10 or 15 minutes; but we don’t see this as providing a useful service for getting back on the bus from your train! Or for getting back by train from an evening in in the city, or Sylvia Park, or for that matter from the Mission Bay waterfront.

We’re also engaging with Auckland Transport about how to address the loss of a bus service through St Johns Park. Our proposals include routing the #729 bus through Norman Lesser Drive and Panapa Drive, though there may be other possibilities, and as always we are focused on the outcome (a bus service through St Johns Park) not the specific solution. At this stage it looks like we may have to wait until after the new network is up and running.

Auckland Transport Announces New Bus Routes from 2017

27 June 2016

After public consultation earlier this year, AT has made slight modifications to its proposed bus routes for central suburbs from 2017 onwards. These changes were made public on 27 June 2016.

Changes that will affect Meadowbank & St Johns residents are as follows. See map below outlining the changes.

Bus routes removed

The 655 (and 685 express) which previously travelled from Glen Innes via St Johns, Meadowbank Rd, Remuera Rd to the city. Replaced by 729 (see below)
The 635 which travelled to the city via Norman Lesser, Panapa and Grand Drives. Replaced by 729 (see below).

New routes

729, which will travel from Ellerslie train station to Glen Innes train stations, via Grand Drive, Meadowbank Rd and Gowing Drive.

More information

View the Central and East New Network summary document (27 June 2017) from Auckland Transport.

Give your feedback on bus network

31 October 2015

Meadowbank and St Johns stand to lose bus services in 11 local streets from 2017 with Auckland Transport’s new network.

See our Save our local bus routes article for a full list of the proposed changes.

If you’d like to ask questions in person, come along to a feedback session with Auckland Transport.

Where: Meadowbank Mall
Date: Saturday November 7
Time: 10am-12pm

Save our local bus routes

31 October 2015

Meadowbank stands to lose bus services in 11 roads with Auckland Transport’s proposed ‘hub-based’ transport network for Auckland, effective from 2017.

Auckland Transport hopes the new network will work in the same way as subway networks in other countries.

This means locals will have to walk further to main roads to catch the bus.

The Meadowbank roads that will lose bus services are:

Bonnie Brae Rd
Fancourt St
Grand Drive
Harapaki Rd
Meadowbank Rd
Parsons Rd

In St Johns:

Norman Lesser Drive
Felton Mathew Ave
Howard Hunter Ave
Panapa Drive
Grand Drive

Central Auckland is the last area to be consulted. Auckland Transport has modified its plans for other areas based on their feedback, so we must speak up now. You can give feedback on the proposals until 10 December.

To see the proposed routes, visit: https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/new-public-transport-network/new-network-for-the-central-suburbs/

To have your say, visit: http://haveyoursay.at.govt.nz/New-Network-central-suburbs

To see the residents association submission, visit: http://mbsjra.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MSJRA_Bus-network-consultation-2015.pdf