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The Northern Busway is a segregated busway that runs along the eastern side of the Northern Motorway, part of
State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...
, in the north of
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand, linking the North Shore with the northern end of the
Auckland Harbour Bridge The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and th ...
. As of May 2022, the busway consists of two-way lanes running between Albany Station and Akoranga Station, and from Akoranga Station a southbound-only lane that joins the harbour bridge approaches just south of the Onewa Road on-ramp system. Between 2008 and 2022 the busway terminated at Constellation. Six stations provide access points for passengers to board; some stations have park and ride parking spaces; others have drop off and pick up zones only. City-bound Northern Express (NX1 and NX2) services commence from Hibiscus Coast Station or Albany Station; from Albany, the lanes reduced travel time to
Britomart Transport Centre Britomart Transport Centre, also known as Britomart railway station, is the public transport hub in the central business district of Auckland and the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk railway line. It combines a railway station ...
from around one hour by car during
peak hours A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...
to about half an hour by bus. In the reverse direction, NX1 and NX2 services leaving the city travel north to the Akoranga off-ramp, cross over the motorway, and enter Akoranga Station, from where they travel north on the busway lanes. The busway lanes are also an important transport link within the North Shore, where they are the spine of the bus-based
public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
system.


History


Background

Prior to 2000, indicative scheme and station planning was undertaken by International Transport Planning Consultants (McCormick Rankin International) who were engaged by Serco on behalf of Transit. In 2000, the North Shore Busway Office was established with a team to focus both on the overall scheme as well as the station components. This reflected the nature of the proposed funding. McCormick Rankin undertook refined schematic design and the Busway Team focused on the community consultation and funding programmes. The ARC held a regional Station Theming Design Competition in 2001 to select a consultant to develop a Theming Manual for application across all major public transport stations to the Auckland Region. This provided a distinctive design signature to the region visually linking all public transport facilities. MARIO MADAYAG/Jasmax Architects were selected as winners for the competition with part of their benefit being their commission on this concept design exercise. The ARC separately engaged MARIO MADAYAG/Jasmax to develop the Theming Manuals within the set parameters of that project. The project ran in parallel with the busway station concept design exercise but was heavily integrated as the pedestrian overbridge, stair lift towers and waiting enclosure developed concepts for the Busway were integrated with the Theming Manual.


Concept, design and construction

Concept design for the busway was developed by MRCagney (formerly McCormick Rankin Cagney), with detailed design and consultation completed by Mario Madayag Architecture, Jasmax,
Beca Group Beca Group Limited (generally referred to as Beca) is one of the largest employee-owned professional services consultancy firms in the Asia-Pacific. The company has more than 3,800 staff working across 23 offices around the globe, with headquarte ...
,
Opus ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...
and Connell Wagner.
Fletcher Construction The Fletcher Construction Company Limited is a New Zealand construction company and a subsidiary of Fletcher Building. Together with Higgins Contractors Ltd it makes up the Construction division of Fletcher Building. Fletcher Construction is wid ...
was responsible for construction. Akoranga, Smales Farm, and Sunnynook stations were built by NZ Strong Construction. Difficulties encountered included the nearby residential areas, the predominantly soft ground, and environmental efforts to protect
New Zealand dotterel The New Zealand dotterel (''Charadrius obscurus'') is a species of shorebird found only in certain areas of New Zealand. It is also called the New Zealand plover or red-breasted dotterel, and its Māori names include , , and . The southern ...
breeding grounds. Construction employed around 300 people at its peak, with around a million man-hours being invested, including shifts during 512 nights.''Busway bits 'n' pieces'' – ''Region Wide'', newsletter of the
Auckland Regional Council The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The AR ...
, March 2008, Page 4


Operation

The busway was officially opened in February 2008 after several years of construction, though the Albany and Constellation stations had been operating since December 2005 using the normal Northern Motorway lanes. It was credited with reducing peak traffic on the Northern Motorway by around 500 cars each rush hour one month after opening, and about 39% of passengers on the Northern Express bus service had never used public transport before. The busway was initially used by 70 buses per hour during peak time. In 2008, the busway received the 'Shell Bitumen Excellence Award for a Major Roading Project' and the 'Roading New Zealand Supreme Award'. In June 2009, it received the
Ingenium Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation, formally the National Museum of Science and Technology, is a Canadian Crown corporation responsible for overseeing national museums related to science and technology. The name is based on ...
'Excellence Award' (in the category for projects above NZ$2 million construction cost). In June 2010, the busway carried its 5 millionth passenger and was estimated to remove the equivalent of about 5,100 cars in the morning peak, with 80 buses per hour during peak times. By mid-2011, frequency of the Northern Express had risen to every three minutes during the morning peak hour, five minutes during the 'shoulder peak'. In 2015, some Northern Express services were extended to Hibiscus Coast busway station (formerly named Silverdale Park and Ride). In 2017, Auckland Transport's projections indicated that the busway would reach maximum capacity in 2026, twenty years earlier than originally expected. AT's report said that increased patronage would "manifest in overcapacity conditions and poor operational performances" at Albany, Sunnynook and Akoranga stations. AT was investigating a range of improvements, including lengthening station platforms. A decision on a timeline for conversion of the busway to a rail link was expected to be announced before the end of 2017. In the 12 months to December 2018, the busway carried nearly 6 million passengers. In May 2022 the extension of the busway between Constellation and Albany was opened.


Funding

The busway became fully operational in 2009, with some final sections being completed with little publicity, for around NZ$290–294 million: $210 million for the busway and $84 million for the stations.''Following the money'' – ''e.nz magazine'',
IPENZ Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau (ENZ; previously the New Zealand Institution of Engineers – NZIE and then Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand – IPENZ) is a not-for-profit professional body that promotes the integrity a ...
January/February 2007
The project was funded by
Transit New Zealand Transit New Zealand (Māori: Ararau Aotearoa), which existed from 1989 to 2008, was the New Zealand Crown entity responsible for operating and planning the New Zealand state highway network (10,894 km, about 12% of New Zealand's roads). It ...
, ARTA,
Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...
and
North Shore City Council The North Shore is part of the large urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the north of the Waitematā Harbour. To the east, has the Hauraki Gulf, to the west, is West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland, to the south, has the Wait ...
.


Infrastructure


Busway

The busway has two lanes for 6.2 km running parallel with the eastern side of the Northern Motorway from Albany Station to Akoranga Station at the Esmonde Road interchange,''Busway the way of the future for North Shore'' – ''LG, New Zealand Local Government'', May 2007, Volume 43 No 05 from where a one-way southbound bus lane extends a further 2.5 km to south of the Onewa Road interchange, where it merges with the motorway for the Harbour Bridge.''Dedicated busway a roaring success'' – ''LG, New Zealand Local Government'', March 2008, Volume 44 No 03 There are no dedicated bus lanes on the harbour bridge itself. Its use is limited to Auckland Transport approved buses, emergency and maintenance vehicles,Welcome to the Northern Busway
(from the official project website)
and the SkyBus North Harbour services that run between Albany and
Auckland Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airport Oaks, a service hub suburb south of th ...
. The busway has been designed for possible use by
car pool Carpooling (also car-sharing, ride-sharing and lift-sharing) is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others to have to drive to a location themselves. By having more people usi ...
s.


Bus stations

The busway includes six dedicated stations, some with extensive
park-and-ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rap ...
car parks. Feeder bus services serve the stations, allowing transfer. The stations are (north to south): *
Hibiscus Coast The Hibiscus Coast is a populated area on a stretch of the Hauraki Gulf coast in New Zealand's Auckland Region. It has a population of making it the 11th most populous urban area in New Zealand, and the second most populous in the Auckland Re ...
– (the busway lanes do not yet extend to this station). Serves Silverdale, Orewa, Red Beach, Whangaparaoa, Redvale, Dairy Flat. * Albany – serves Albany, Rosedale, Long Bay. *
Constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...
– serves Mairangi Bay, Murrays Bay, Browns Bay, Rothesay Bay, Torbay, Unsworth Heights, Greenhithe, Albany. * Sunnynook – this station does not have ramps to allow local buses to enter or exit the station. * Smales Farm – serves Takapuna, Milford. * Akoranga – serves Northcote, Takapuna, Devonport,
AUT AUT may refer to the following. Locations *Austria (ISO 3166-1 country code) *Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town, Benin *Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel, Greece *Airstrip on Atauro Island, East Timor (IATA airport code) Organizations *Arriva ...
's North Campus on Akoranga Drive. All stations provide shelter and cycle parking and were designed with public safety in mind, such as with glass walls, low planting, night lighting and
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to enhance security.Frequently Asked Question
(from the
North Shore City Council The North Shore is part of the large urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the north of the Waitematā Harbour. To the east, has the Hauraki Gulf, to the west, is West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland, to the south, has the Wait ...
website. Accessed 21 March 2008.)


Other structures

Major related structures are the new Esmonde Interchange (including large-scale improvements for general traffic) and Tristram Avenue Viaduct, which crosses the often-congested Tristram Avenue via
grade separation In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...
. The viaduct has 12 spans of 30 m each, with the foundation piles being 1.5 m thick.


Electricity transmission cables

Cable ducts were placed beneath the busway during the construction in 2005, to provide for the future installation of electricity transmission cables. The cables installed in these ducts during 2012 and 2013 form part of a major upgrade to the security of supply to North Auckland and Northland.


Plans

By 2015, plans were unveiled to extend the busway lanes northwards between Constellation Station to Albany Station. This was completed in 2022. An extension towards Orewa in the north is being debated for the long-term future. It was originally expected to cost around NZ$500 million, although the success of the scheme has now sparked potentially more extensive schemes for between NZ$700 million and NZ$1.2 billion to at least Silverdale, with up to five tunnels and seven bridges, including a motorway flyover between Constellation and Albany stations. Plans in 2008 included additional stations at Rosedale and Redvale. In December 2017, plans were released for a $70 million station at Rosedale, situated between the Albany and Constellation stations. The station would be sited on Arrenway Drive with platforms extending across Rosedale Road for bus transfers to other routes. A construction start date of mid-2019 and opening in 2021 were proposed.


Conversion to rail-based transit

The Northern Busway's usage is tracking towards capacity being reached by 2030. Auckland Transport have studied the future mass transit needs for the North Shore, with light rail being determined the most flexible mode compared to other rail-based options. This may use a tunnel to access Auckland city centre as part of the proposed second Auckland Harbour crossing.


See also

*
Eastern Busway, Auckland The Eastern Busway, also known as AMETI (the Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative), is Auckland's first urban busway under construction in the southeastern suburbs of Panmure, Pakuranga and Botany, in Auckland. Stage two of the East ...
* Other busway systems *
Ritchies Transport __NOTOC__ Ritchies Transport is a New Zealand private bus operator, owned by KKR. It was established in 1972 and describes itself as "the largest privately owned bus and coach transport operator in New Zealand" with a fleet of over 1500 vehicles s ...
, contracted operator of NX1 services * Tranzurban Auckland, contracted operator of NX2 services


References


External links


Northern Busway
(official project website – archived version) {{Bus transport in New Zealand Busways State Highway 1 (New Zealand)