Three routes picked for bus prioritisation
Ways to help buses move more quickly along three of Christchurch's main bus corridors are being considered by the City Council and will be made available to the public within the next few months.
The three corridors being considered for improvement are Main North Road/
Papanui Road (QEII Drive to the city), Colombo Street/Cashmere Road (Princess Margaret Hospital to the city) and Queenspark bus route (to the city via New Brighton Road/Shirley Road/Hills Road).
"These have been identified for some time by the City Council as routes that could benefit from bus priority measures to help buses break through traffic congestion and make public transport more reliable," Council transport planner Robert Woods says.
"Among the measures that will be considered are bus stop improvements, special traffic signal controls for buses, bus lanes and other methods that will safely give buses priority along the corridors," he says. "People tend to think that bus priority simply means bus lanes but there are a wide range of tools that can be used ."
Introduction of some of the measures is likely to be later this year, in keeping with the targets of the Council and Environment Canterbury's joint Public Passenger Transport Strategy. The aims of this strategy are to increase the use of buses, reduce the amount of car use and avoid the undesirable effects of growing traffic congestion, including increased and variable travel times, traffic noise, pollution and reduced safety.
Slow journeys and growing unreliability were identified during public consultation on the strategy as the most important factors deterring Christchurch residents from using buses more often. "These can be addressed most effectively by giving our buses a higher status on congested roads," Mr Woods says.
"I think traffic congestion on the three corridors we are considering has got to the point that most motorists will be able to understand that changes are needed. In time, we hope drivers will envy bus passengers, leave their cars at home and traffic congestion will be greatly reduced."
The first of the bus priority proposals could be made available to the public for viewing as early as May. Councillors will be asked to approve them and work will start on implementing the first of them.
More information can be found at http://www.ccc.govt.nz/environment/transport/buspriority/ in the meantime. Brochures will shortly be available from Council Service Centres, Christchurch City Libraries and Civic Offices, Tuam Street.
Background
Christchurch City Council and Environment Canterbury (ECan) are partners in the Public Passenger Transport Strategy. The Council is responsible for providing and maintaining all infrastructure associated with streets (eg the road and its markings, the footpaths, traffic signals, traffic signs, bus stops etc), while ECan is responsible for planning, procuring and administering bus service contracts that run on the Council's streets and that are provided by the three current operators (Redbus, Leopard and Christchurch Bus Services). |
