Bus lanes are coming to Chch

[dmc]

Guess there will be alot of traffic on all the side streets, the residents are going to love that.

I just hope if the bus drivers get their own lane the won't f%$kn pull out in front of me anymore!! How many of them seem to think that turning the indicator on means immediately pull out regardless of a car being next to them I don't know.

[mikeey01]

I would have expected some thought had gone into this firstly, but alas - clearly none!

Second largest city in NZ, three of the busiest, congested, maxed out single carriage way roads out of the CBD heading north and our council puts bus lanes in before making it a dual carriage way for all or at least dual for the morning heading into town and dual heading out of town in the afternoon?
This is almost as good as the trial done last year: getting the buses to stop in the middle of the road like they use to in Hills road in two places and hold up all the traffic.

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is a Crown entity established on 1 August 2008,
bringing together the functions of Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand
to provide an integrated approach to transport planning, funding and delivery.

So what part of this crazy all for the bus lane idea is to provide an integrated approach to transport delivery?

[usa-vtwin]

I hope they dont paint them lanes that hideous green colour as they do in Auckland!! Its sooooooooooo tacky/messy looking. Looks like sprayed on imitation grass.

[cooneyr]

Guess there will be alot of traffic on all the side streets, the residents are going to love that.

I just hope if the bus drivers get their own lane the won't f%$kn pull out in front of me anymore!! How many of them seem to think that turning the indicator on means immediately pull out regardless of a car being next to them I don't know.

Bus lanes will have minimal effect on amount of traffic using the side streets as rat runs. The whole point of bus lanes is that the buses have their own dedicated lanes so they don’t need to pull out into traffic. Obviously where there are no lanes they will have to continue to have to merge with traffic.

I would have expected some thought had gone into this firstly, but alas - clearly none!

Second largest city in NZ, three of the busiest, congested, maxed out single carriage way roads out of the CBD heading north and our council puts bus lanes in before making it a dual carriage way for all or at least dual for the morning heading into town and dual heading out of town in the afternoon?
This is almost as good as the trial done last year: getting the buses to stop in the middle of the road like they use to in Hills road in two places and hold up all the traffic.

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is a Crown entity established on 1 August 2008,
bringing together the functions of Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand
to provide an integrated approach to transport planning, funding and delivery.

So what part of this crazy all for the bus lane idea is to provide an integrated approach to transport delivery?

Four laning a road is a mamoth undertaking and is extremly politiacal as it requireds a lot of private property and upsets a lot of people. Gary Moore got elected (partly) on the basis of him stopping four laning of Cranford St. This being said sometimes it has to be done, it just takes time to get through the various processes.

Bus lanes are not the same as the bus boarders on Hills Rd. There is a lot of miss perception about Hills road out there but this is not the forum to explain that. Bus lanes are an additional dedicated lane for buses, motorcycles and cycles. There will be minimal impact on the traffic flow, however buses, motorcycles and cycles will be able to get close to the head of the queues of traffic rather than having to sit at the back and work their way to the signals as per car drivers.

This is good integrated planning as it allows existing users to continue to do their thing and congest the road network and buses, motorcycles and cycles will be able to avoid some of the congestion. The lanes make better use of the existing road space (with minor modifications). Is parking really an efficient use of road space when most have off street parking and using that space for travel would be much more efficient. Get out of your car and onto a bus or cycle or ride your motorbike and everybody will win through less congestion and improved travel times for all (less cars = less congestion and bus lanes = shorter bus travel times).

I hope they dont paint them lanes that hideous green colour as they do in Auckland!! Its sooooooooooo tacky/messy looking. Looks like sprayed on imitation grass.

Yep the green surfacing is coming. Not sure which product was used in Auckland however I suspect they used an older product that can look a bit manky after time. We are using a green version of the shiny red coloured surfacing that has started to appear in cycle lanes around Chch. This holds its colour much better and stays cleaner. The coloured surfacing is the most effective way of making it obvious to all that the lane is a bus lane not just another traffic lane. As a car driver you will be fined for using the lanes inappropriately. Car drivers can use them for the minimum distance necessary to turn into a side street etc. As per Auckland if a car driver travels along one to get past a queue when turning into a side street you will be fined and also if you park in one during operational hours you will be fined and towed.

This is pretty simple really - the lanes will be an improvement for bus users, motorcyclists and cyclists with minimal impact on other road users/neighbours. Care will be required as everybody learns how the new system works. Be proactive and read the rules page. Yes the lanes are not a silver bullet but they will be an improvement on what is there now.

Cheers R

[Badjelly]

This is pretty simple really - the lanes will be an improvement for bus users, motorcyclists and cyclists with minimal impact on other road users/neighbours. Care will be required as everybody learns how the new system works. Be proactive and read the rules page. Yes the lanes are not a silver bullet but they will be an improvement on what is there now.

Cheery bugger aren't you? Don't you know that KB is for bitching and moaning about stuff?

[klingon]

I can't believe bikers are moaning about getting priority lanes!

They are a great idea and much safer than lane splitting. Just a shame we have to share them with buses, but better than not having them at all!

[sondela]

Cheery bugger aren't you? Don't you know that KB is for bitching and moaning about stuff?

Good on you cooneyr, your replies are clear, simple, and yes.. cheery! I love it!

Just please tell me the bus lane paint won't make us fall off in the rain..

[cooneyr]

Cheery bugger aren't you? Don't you know that KB is for bitching and moaning about stuff?

Nothing good ever happens in the world - didn't you know that

I can't believe bikers are moaning about getting priority lanes!

They are a great idea and much safer than lane splitting. Just a shame we have to share them with buses, but better than not having them at all!

Thanks for the positive voice from somebody who has experience with them. They are a new thing for Chch (we have some very short sections around the square that are totally abused) so most are not sure what to make of them yet.

Good on you cooneyr, your replies are clear, simple, and yes.. cheery! I love it!

Just please tell me the bus lane paint won't make us fall off in the rain..

As with any project, explaining what is intended/happening is a big, sometimes awkward task. I hope that people are getting the info they need.

Re the green, it is a epoxy resin as a "glue" and finely crushed coloured glass spread on top product. The glass is not like normal window glass in that it is not super sharp edged but it is pretty aggressive. It has a much better skid resistance rating than paint or the older coloured surfacing product and the lab testing results I've seen suggest it has a skid resistance rating about the same as or slightly better than normal chip seal (tar seal in the old speak) or asphalt (also known as hot mix).

Cheers R

[sondela]

Great, thank you for that. Confidence in what your tyres are going to be doing in the rain helps keep ones' concentration on other things..like cars and buses..

[Mikkel]

By the end of the year you will be zipping past stationary cars on Papanui Rd and Main North Road during peak times...

In other words, business as usual - and not just on those two roads either.

[thepom]

well put cooney,I travel that route to the airport so it will be very helpful,I did,nt know anything about all this so thanks for the informative heads up..

[PrincessBandit]

what next.. elektrickery??!

Hell, I was going to say "traffic lights"?

[cooneyr]

In other words, business as usual - and not just on those two roads either.

Yer but now you don't have to worry about the legalities of zipping past cars. Then again fellas riding black motards like you don't pay much regard to the law do ya

Cheers R

[cooneyr]

Well work has started, holes are being dug. All sorts of fun and games from my end but we are moving forward. Education marketing is about to kick of soon as well.

Cheers R

[Muppet]

Those in Chch or who travel to regularly may have seen billboards, newspaper adds, article in Our Christchurch etc about bus priority and this is the website. Flyers and other info will be available from the City Council service centres and Civi building plus other locations from September.

Motorcyclists are allowed to use the lanes which is good news (they are Bus Lanes not Bus Only Lanes). By the end of the year you will be zipping past stationary cars on Papanui Rd and Main North Road during peak times though you will have to interact appropriately with buses and cycles. I suggest you all learn the rules from the website - they are pretty simple. While this is good for motorcyclists I'm also posting this so that as many as possible are aware of the rules so please pass the web link onto your friends, family etc. There are some reasonable fines if people don’t obey the rules. Page with the rules.

The Papanui/Main North Road route works are due to kick off next week all going well. My name and number is on the website (not hard to figure out which one) along with people from the City Council so if you have any questions about bus priority, give me a ring.

Cheers R

If you trust drivers in Christchurch enough to be "zipping past stationary cars on Papanui Rd and Main North Road during peak times" then good luck to you. I for one, will be crawling along assuming that at any moment one of them will pull out and run me down