North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Double-deckers hit the suburbs
Bus users on the North Shore will now be able to literally look down on their fellow gas-guzzling car commuters.
On February 27, the first double-decker buses were rolled out along North Shore suburban bus routes.
The four new double-deckers are part of Auckland Transport’s (AT) ‘‘March Madness’’ programme, which aims to provide additional public transport services as students go back to school.
Combined with some additional services, the four new double-decker buses have helped increase the number of commuter spaces on North Shore buses by 629.
Two of the passengers on the very first North Shore doubledecker service along Onewa Rd, Birkenhead, were Auckland councillors Richard Hills and Chris Darby.
‘‘It’s funny, I think it reminds you of when you’re a kid, going up the stairs and sitting at the front, there’s a lot of novelty to it. But I think a lot of people just want to get to work and not be left at the bus stop,’’ Hills says.
‘‘It’s the same amount of road space for a whole lot more people and I think people enjoy them as well - they’re newer they have charging ports for your phones,’’ Hills says.
Darby says the double-deckers were a response to the huge uptake in public transport use over the last few years.
‘‘The brand spanking new double-deckers are the new cool in public transport. They help reduce overcrowding, address the massive passenger demand during peak time services and offer a big leap in comfort,’’ Darby says.
Hills was instrumental in lobbying AT to approve the new double-decker buses for the Kaipatiki Local Board region, where he used to be a local board member.
Across all Auckland, AT’s ‘‘March Madness’’ programme will increase bus capacity by 5400 spaces, and train capacity by 1200 spaces.
The new North Shore doubledecker routes are the 970, 973, 973B, 974 and 974B between Beach Haven and the CBD, and the 50 and 955 routes between Glenfield Mall and the CBD.
All the double-decker buses were purchased by Birkenhead Transport, which plans to add a further four double-decker buses to their North Shore routes during 2017.