NZ In Tranzit: Buses attract passengers away from rail

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Buses attract passengers away from rail

Megabus arriving in Toronto, Canada. Wikimedia Commons

Tranzwatching in North America, Poland etc

America's national passenger railroad company Amtrak recently reported record annual patronage, the largest since Amtrack's creation . Notwithstanding this, a study of the rising popularity of discount long distant coach services, particular in the nor-eastern United States, reveals these services are attracting passengers away from rail travel. A similar phenonema is also occurring in Canada, the UK and possibly elsewhere - Stagecoach owner Sir Brian Souter launched a major Polish company, PolskiBus.com

Long distance coach travel (with most firms offering early pay or non-refundable discounts) also seems in a healthy state in New Zealand.

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This blog is mostly about public transport and social infrastructure in Christchurch, and transit around New Zealand. Also tracked; transit developments in similar sized cities in Canada and Australia, kindred in demographic patterns, for added perspective and inspiration. NZ in Tranzit blog covers some of the new transit technology and discusses public transport concepts in general, as well. Because the blogster's day-job is in a high profile customer industry to preserve some degree of privacy he appears only as a rabbit in his profile, albeit using his real name.

Christchurch is a city of metropop c 400,000 in Te Wai Pounamu, the southern of the larger islands of NZ. Public transport is operated under the auspices of a regional council with bus operations (and those of one small cross harbour ferry) tendered out to private operators including one owned by the City Council, Redbus. We have a modern clean fleet of buses which offer fairly frequent services to all city areas. The city has been quick to adapt new technologies such as low-floor buses, smart-card (arguably the best in the world!), GPS and Real Time signage and interactive text, and online type information systems. Our busiest route is The Orbiter, a service that circulates around the middle suburbs, and the ring of shopping malls, high schools and the city University about 4-5km from the centre of town

Christchurch also has restored trams operating on a central city circuit. Note [May 2011] - Sadly, due to two huge earthquakes (that took 182 lives) and multiple aftershocks much of the central city of Christchurch will be closed to public access for up to a year to allow the demolition of 900 severely damaged buildings. This includes a great many heritage buildings that previously gave the central city its distinctive character and (such was the exceptional ferocity of the second earthquake in February) even some of the high rises, possibly including those shown in photo above. Tram operations are suspended for at least a year. Many other parts of the city have resumed active life for both residents and tourists..

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6am November 1 2013 - the stats counter shows New Zealand page views, since the blog began in September 2009 just hit exactly 43,000 - not bad for an obscure blog about public transport, even allowing only a portion of these will be readers in the fullest sense. However this dwarfed by US readership - three times the number, and total world readership. Blogger Statistics feedback also show that NZ in Tranzit blog is currently (November 2013) averaging about 1,950 page views per week. This has been dropping to more realistic levels in recent months I suspect now that potential Designline investors in USA are out of the picture. Overseas readership is still about 85% of total readership.It is a bit of a weird imbalance, but costs me nothing. The primary aim of NZ in Tranzit remains the same, to spread more advanced information, and to share new ideas, options and visions about public transport, in NZ and Christchurch. I feel a bit like some nutty hermit living in the wilderness, bearing witness to religious truth, unheard and mostly unlistened to, yet a very high percentage of what I am saying is merely passing on best practise concepts from overseas, nothing weird at all.

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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Buses attract passengers away from rail

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