Auckland City Council is proposing a number of changes to Dominion Road, including one that would result in the current bus lanes being turned into “T2 lanes”. This would allow vehicles with two or more occupants to drive in the bus lanes.
The council is accepting feedback on these changes until Sunday 29th August (this coming Sunday). Making sure your voice is heard is easy – just take a few minutes to fill in the online feedback form here.
We suggest you mention the following matters:
Turning Dominion Road’s bus lanes into T2 lanes is a poor idea because:
• Allowing cars into the bus lanes is likely to considerably slow down the trip for bus users.
• Experience from the switch from bus lanes to T2 lanes on Tamaki Drive suggested that vehicles in the general traffic lane were slowed down considerably.
• Dominion Road is one of Auckland’s best and most popular bus routes. ARTA have recently looked to market the service as a “b-line” route. Bus priority along the road should be improved, not reduced.
• Slower buses will make it more difficult to retain the current high frequencies along the route.Overall, the proposed change is worse for everyone. Worse for bus users, worse for car drivers, worse for public transport in general and worse for bus operators.
The Campaign for Better Transport supports the extension of the hours of operation for the bus lanes on Dominion Road, to provide faster trips for bus users outside the 7-9am and 4-6pm times the current bus lanes operate.
T2 lanes have been considered for Onewa Road on the North Shore, and also the bus lanes on Tamaki Drive have been changed to T2 lanes. In the case of Onewa Road the council has not made the change, in the case of Tamaki Drive, the change has slowed down traffic for everyone.
Further information/analysis of the proposed Onewa Road changes, and why council officers have recommended against such a change: http://transportblog.co.nz/2010/07/09/why-t2-lanes-can-be-stupid/
Further information on the Tamaki Drive change from bus lanes to T2 lanes:
http://transportblog.co.nz/2010/06/14/analysing-the-dominion-road-bus-t2-lane-issue/
My personal submission (if you’re short of ideas): http://transportblog.co.nz/2010/07/16/dominion-rd-t2-give-your-feedback/