Posts Tagged ‘new bus network’

Revised School Bus Routes for St Thomas’s School

17 December 2018

The parents of St Thomas’s School have spoken and Auckland Transport have listened – new school bus services will be in place for the start of term 1 2019. Auckland Transport will operate one bus on a revised morning service #549, one bus on a revised afternoon service #549, and one bus on a new afternoon service #550. Maps and timetables for the new services are available on our website.

As a result of the changes more bus stops in St Johns will be served, both in the morning and in the afternoon. No bus stops that are in-zone will lose service. The majority of students using the current service will be unaffected.

The new routes will not serve Stonefields. Auckland Transport is inviting customers currently using the 549 to or from Stonefields to refer to our online Journey Planner (AT.govt.nz/journeyplanner) in January 2019 or call our contact centre in January on 09 366 6400 to find out about alternatives. Current school route #547 (Panmure – Stonefields – St Johns – Selwyn College) will not be changing so will remain an option for students travelling from Stonefields to St Thomas’s.

Route 549 (one bus) mornings
Route: 20 Norman Lesser Dr (stop 7722), Norman Lesser Dr, (R) Panapa Dr (at the second intersection of Norman Lesser Dr and Panapa Dr – buses travel north on Panapa Dr and clockwise round the loop), (L) Norman Lesser Dr, (R) Truman St, (L) St Johns Rd, (R) Dorchester St, Gowing Dr, (L) St Johns Rd, Kohimarama Rd, (R) Allum St, 113 Allum St (stop 1442).

Timetable for Route 549

20 Norman Lesser Dr – 7722 08:10

113 Allum St – 1442 08:40

Route 549 (one bus) afternoons
Route : Opp 255 Kohimarama Rd (stop 1422), Kohimarama Rd, St Johns Rd, (R) Gowing Dr, Dorchester St, (L) St Johns Rd, (R) Truman St, (L) Norman Lesser Dr, (R) Panapa Dr (at the first intersection of Norman Lesser Dr and Panapa Dr – buses travel south on Panapa Dr and anticlockwise round the loop), (L) Norman Lesser Dr, 79 Norman Lesser Dr (stop 7725).

Timetable for Route 549

Opp 255 Kohimarama Rd – 1422 15:10

79 Norman Lesser Dr – 7725 15:35

Route 550 (one bus) afternoon
Route: Opp 255 Kohimarama Rd (stop 1422), Kohimarama Rd, St Johns Rd, (R) Gowing Dr, Dorchester St, (R) St Johns Rd, (L) Gerard Way, (L) Norman Lesser Dr, 56 Norman Lesser Dr (stop 1408).
Timetable for Route 550
Opp 255 Kohimarama Rd – 1422 15:10
56 Norman Lesser Dr – 1408 15:30

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.

Dissatisfaction at changes to school busses

31 August 2018

After implementing the New Bus Network, and Auckland Transport’s kind offer to present at our AGM, a group of parents ran a survey on changes to the #549 afternoon school bus. The results – from 60 respondents – are graphed below. Spoiler alert – they don’t love it. We are not only pleased to assist residents to use their voice, but very interested in one of the key priorities coming out of the survey. The top priority was to implement safe crossing opportunities across St Johns Road – possibly near Dorchester St. We’ve been making initial inquiries on this topic for a while now, and look forward to hear AT’s forthcoming response. More on this when we have it, but in the meantime send us any thoughts you might have or join in the Facebook conversation.

AGM on Monday 23 July 2018

3 July 2018

We are pleased to confirm our AGM will be held on Monday 23 July from 7pm at St Chads. Our guest speaker for the night will be representatives from Auckland Transport. They will talk about the new bus network rolling out Sunday 8 July.

The talk is pitched primarily as an information-giving session, and any questions that the AT representatives cannot immediately answer will be captured by our Transport Subcommittee and discussed with you further, prior to a more formalised presentation to AT. We are always interested in other broader transport related concerns in our area and this will be a great opportunity to ensure we have them properly identified.

If you have any questions you’d like raised about either the new bus routes, timetables, changes etc or other transport related concerns please email us at .

We will also be electing new committee members at the AGM. You need to be a paid up member to vote or stand for election. If you haven’t yet paid your bargain membership of $10 please join us and have a say on how your residents association is run and what things we focus on.

Please note that for July our AGM will replace the regular monthly meeting usually held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month.

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