AT and rail transport in Auckland

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628 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#2041721 21-Jun-2018 14:21

kryptonjohn:

According to this:

https://www.toptiplondon.com/transport/tickets/underground-tickets-travelcards/

the middle-span London monthly travel card 223 quid or about NZ$430 ???

The article mentioned that London (UK) and Dublin (Ireland) were the two more expensive cities, so that makes sense.

peetter

18 posts

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#2041727 21-Jun-2018 14:30

stinger:

kryptonjohn:

According to this:

https://www.toptiplondon.com/transport/tickets/underground-tickets-travelcards/

the middle-span London monthly travel card 223 quid or about NZ$430 ???

The article mentioned that London (UK) and Dublin (Ireland) were the two more expensive cities, so that makes sense.

Prague with one of the best public transport systems is under $300 a year. It is heavily subsidized though.

bmt

571 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2043173 24-Jun-2018 16:51

Have just read the whole thread and honestly kryptonjohn, there is not a single post of yours I agree with. It's not even worth pointing out the multiple flaws as you have obviously already made up your mind about PT based on a SINGLE return journey!

The machine doesn't seem to offer round trip tickets, so have to purchase a ticket each time. Fail #1.

It takes 30 seconds to buy a ticket. A minor inconvenience.

The price of a ticket for the 7 minute ride into Britomart from Orakei? $5.50. Are you kidding me? Cheaper to just catch an Uber.

How is it anyone else's fault your wife doesn't have a HOP card?

On the way in and on the way home, the trains are only 2/hour. Had a near 30 minute wait on the way home. Fail #3.

Train schedules are completely fixed. They are available online, on your phone, on Google Maps, at the station. The times do. not. change. If you had spent 30 seconds on arrival you could have seen the times the train departed and known to be at the station a couple of minutes beforehand.

It's like you expect everything to be handed to you on a platter.

kryptonjohn

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#2043177 24-Jun-2018 17:15

Calm down and catch your breath mate, nobody died.

Personally I think the train service was a bit crap so I'll take advantage of other available options next time.

I'm very happy you like it and hope you stick with it. The more people that do the better.

Geektastic

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#2043251 24-Jun-2018 19:09

If you think Auckland trains are bad, try the Wairarapa trains...

amiga500

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#2043432 25-Jun-2018 10:00

I enjoy using the trains in Auckland. However, I usually only go Britomart to Newmarket - partly because of all the bad publicity they get about breaking down & leaving people stranded.

kryptonjohn

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#2043450 25-Jun-2018 10:42

amiga500:

I enjoy using the trains in Auckland. However, I usually only go Britomart to Newmarket - partly because of all the bad publicity they get about breaking down & leaving people stranded.

Despite bmt's outburst I don't mind using the train for occasional commutes as long as the weather is OK and I'm going into the CBD office. It's a pleasant 15 min walk to Meadowbank station and the commute time trains are only about 10 min apart. However as it's the 2nd to last stop, there's often no seats and occasionally crammed-in packed. That's a big improvement over a few years ago where you'd get trains coming in that are too full to get aboard. If there are any disruptions then this will still happen.

However it still costs me time which means it costs me either money or life. For the round trip ... 15 min walk each way home/Meadowbank, and a 15 min walk from Britomart/office, say 10 min average waiting and 15 min rolling totals nearly 1:30 per day vs about 0:45 driving so about 45min lost which is worth far more than the cost of a lease park.

In other words, taking the train is a bit of an expensive luxury.

bmt

571 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2043747 25-Jun-2018 19:16

Despite kryptonjohn's hysterial anecdote about rail, ridership is growing year on year., and at a far greater rate than predicted (especially by the National government). If you are comparing parking costs, petrol, WOF, rego, servicing and insurance, vs potentially $6-7 a day for a return rail trip then for many people it is much cheaper to train in.

FWIW, terminating at Britomart is more expensive than going through Britomart, changing trains and terminating out of the CBD.

kryptonjohn

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#2043765 25-Jun-2018 19:45

Uh, you do realize that the rego, insurance and WOF still have to be paid regardless of whether you take the train to work or not? Or are you suggesting people don't own cars at all?

Anyway, at the end of the day some people put a value their time.

debo

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#2043841 25-Jun-2018 22:21

LOL, JAFFAs

Linuxluver

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#2043932 26-Jun-2018 09:39

kryptonjohn:

Went out for dinner in the Britomart area last might at Ortolana - I will post about that elsewhere...

As we're quite close to Orakei train station I figured my wife and I would catch the train in to avoid parking and allow having a few wines. I have a HOP card so easy for me, but wife doesn't so needs a paper ticket. The machine doesn't seem to offer round trip tickets, so have to purchase a ticket each time. Fail #1. The price of a ticket for the 7 minute ride into Britomart from Orakei? $5.50. Are you kidding me? Cheaper to just catch an Uber. Also more convenient, and drier. Fail #2.

On the way in and on the way home, the trains are only 2/hour. Had a near 30 minute wait on the way home. Fail #3.

Using the train was seriously terrible. Over-priced. No security to be seen. Long wait. And this is already being subsidised by rate payers? Never again.

The paper ticket price is high to encourage people to get a HOP card. You could / should have got your wife one at Britomart. But any other time would do now you know it's crazy not to have one.

Train scheduling is something you get used to if you use the service all the time.

Can't do much about bad weather......though Uber or a taxi do help there.

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Linuxluver

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#2043939 26-Jun-2018 09:48

kryptonjohn: Uh, you do realize that the rego, insurance and WOF still have to be paid regardless of whether you take the train to work or not? Or are you suggesting people don't own cars at all?

Anyway, at the end of the day some people put a value their time.

Part of the push toward autonomous cars is coming from a trend in major cities all around the world: more and more younger people can't afford to own a car so they don't have drivers licences. The auto industry is looking down the barrel of tens of millions of people without cars. The concept of car sharing is being driven by this, in tandem with autonomous cars.....

I first noticed this in Toronto in 2007. I was helping to organise a big volunteer effort with hundreds of people......and easily 80% of them under 30 didn't have a drivers license and used public transport (taxis included) exclusively.

Urbanites find homes near the train stations or major bus interchanges. They work near the same...and shop near the same. The network ends up defining the city for them.

Auckland is headed that way.......from neglecting it for 30 years. But it's happening. More and more people won't own cars or use them. I have a 25yo daughter who doesn't want the cost and encumbrace of a car....and we live very near a train station. That and Uber is how she gets around. Much cheaper than her buying and owning a car.

The three years I lived in Toronto in the late 70s / early 80s I quickly sold my car as I had nowhere affordable to park it.....and I used the public transit exclusively.

As Auckland's system continues to improve, doing away with the car will become an option for more and more people. But getting rid of the buy-an-apartment paradigm will really help there. People on the minimum wage can't buy apartments.....but they can rent them. Auckland and NZ generally need to develop rental options common overseas, but for some reason very carefully avoided here from a regulatory standpoint. Walking out an apartment complex and into a train station without going outside (unless you want to) is awesome.

As for valuing their time.....what about that traffic, eh? I'm sure there are hours of the day - morning and night - when it's hard to get in and out many suburbs.....That's why I bought a house near a train station. After 15:30 and before 18:00.....I'll get the train. I can't even get our car out of our street onto Great South Road without major drama as hundreds of car queue for ages for the chance to creep onto the motorway at Greenlance between 07:30 and 09:30 and again 14:30 and 18:30. The train is MUCH faster.

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kryptonjohn

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#2043973 26-Jun-2018 10:28

Linuxluver:

kryptonjohn: Uh, you do realize that the rego, insurance and WOF still have to be paid regardless of whether you take the train to work or not? Or are you suggesting people don't own cars at all?

Anyway, at the end of the day some people put a value their time.

Part of the push toward autonomous cars is coming from a trend in major cities all around the world: more and more younger people can't afford to own a car so they don't have drivers licences. The auto industry is looking down the barrel of tens of millions of people without cars. The concept of car sharing is being driven by this, in tandem with autonomous cars.....

I first noticed this in Toronto in 2007. I was helping to organise a big volunteer effort with hundreds of people......and easily 80% of them under 30 didn't have a drivers license and used public transport (taxis included) exclusively.

Urbanites find homes near the train stations or major bus interchanges. They work near the same...and shop near the same. The network ends up defining the city for them.

Auckland is headed that way.......from neglecting it for 30 years. But it's happening. More and more people won't own cars or use them. I have a 25yo daughter who doesn't want the cost and encumbrace of a car....and we live very near a train station. That and Uber is how she gets around. Much cheaper than her buying and owning a car.

The three years I lived in Toronto in the late 70s / early 80s I quickly sold my car as I had nowhere affordable to park it.....and I used the public transit exclusively.

As Auckland's system continues to improve, doing away with the car will become an option for more and more people. But getting rid of the buy-an-apartment paradigm will really help there. People on the minimum wage can't buy apartments.....but they can rent them. Auckland and NZ generally need to develop rental options common overseas, but for some reason very carefully avoided here from a regulatory standpoint. Walking out an apartment complex and into a train station without going outside (unless you want to) is awesome.

As for valuing their time.....what about that traffic, eh? I'm sure there are hours of the day - morning and night - when it's hard to get in and out many suburbs.....That's why I bought a house near a train station. After 15:30 and before 18:00.....I'll get the train. I can't even get our car out of our street onto Great South Road without major drama as hundreds of car queue for ages for the chance to creep onto the motorway at Greenlance between 07:30 and 09:30 and again 14:30 and 18:30. The train is MUCH faster.

Yep that's certainly true for most of Auckland. I'm lucky that I can drive to the CBD in about 20 min if I leave by about 7:30am weekdays which is quite a lot faster than the train as it's door to door rather than door to train .... train to door. At the moment I'm working out at a customer in East Tamaki and there's no timely PT to get there. With light traffic it's about a 21 minute drive but can easily be 45min getting home if both the motorway and Ti Rakau Drive/Pak Highway junction get into their congested state. The PT option requires a couple of bus changes and according to the journey planner is a combined 1:20 or more.

I work with people that commute over an hour *each way* every day. I don't know how they stay sane.

I hope in the not too distant future we'll have autonomous ride-sharing on-demand Uber type service. Get more than one person per vehicle and get those vehicles to interact nicely with other vehicles and the existing road network could move the population around far better than it does now.

NzBeagle

907 posts

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#2043984 26-Jun-2018 10:45

kryptonjohn:

I work with people that commute over an hour *each way* every day. I don't know how they stay sane.

I hope in the not too distant future we'll have autonomous ride-sharing on-demand Uber type service. Get more than one person per vehicle and get those vehicles to interact nicely with other vehicles and the existing road network could move the population around far better than it does now.

Even now, there must be ways of establishing ride sharing, without autonomy? But too many people like their freedom. I haven't looked into it too hard, but on my ~1hr commute I could collect and drop without much impact if I sought some 'passengers'. But the timing might not suit them too much?

I stay sane with podcasts.

kryptonjohn

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#2043993 26-Jun-2018 11:08

NzBeagle:

kryptonjohn:

I work with people that commute over an hour *each way* every day. I don't know how they stay sane.

I hope in the not too distant future we'll have autonomous ride-sharing on-demand Uber type service. Get more than one person per vehicle and get those vehicles to interact nicely with other vehicles and the existing road network could move the population around far better than it does now.

Even now, there must be ways of establishing ride sharing, without autonomy? But too many people like their freedom. I haven't looked into it too hard, but on my ~1hr commute I could collect and drop without much impact if I sought some 'passengers'. But the timing might not suit them too much?

I stay sane with podcasts.

Yep I think there are apps there now for this, and there is uberPOOL for ride sharing on Uber (maybe not in NZ). It's not really a loss of freedom is it? The downside is you might not find your ride share partners agreeable and you are stuck with them for the hour.

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