Today I left the car at home and took the bus to the office in Auckland. The weather today 16 May in Auckland is very autumnal with strong wind and passing showers. Not that entrancing when a warm dry car awaits my use in the garage!
The 10 minute walk to the bus stop was nice apart from the down pour – lucky I grabbed the umbrella before I left the house.
The bus was on time – and the driver very polite. The smart card system worked. It is being replaced with the “snapper” card. The new readers where on the bus but the system is not live yet.
At 7am in the morning the traffic was light and before I knew it I was in Newmarket to change busses as the one from my suburb goes to the transport hub Britomart and due to the rain I wanted to go to the Aotea square (mid-town). I did not have to wait long for the connection but was not impressed that I had to pay another fare?? The driver told be that I was not able to transfer?
I arrived at my destination on time and the total cost of my journey was $5.20
For my return home this evening I will find a direct bus that will cost me $5.60
By not bringing my car I have saved a $13 parking fee and the petrol and running costs of my car.
So what was right about using public transport today?
- Bus arrived on time to pick us all up at the bus stop
- Arrived on time at my destination
- Got to meet my neighbours at the bus stop
- No stress of driving
- Got to look out the window
- Possibly reduced my carbon footprint for the day?
- One less car on the Auckland roading system today
In my opinion, this is what was wrong about using public transport today?
- Integrated ticketing on one platform for all modes of public transport is a must
- Printing out a timetable needs to be simplified
- Needed to transfer to get to my destination
- Was not able to transfer my original fare to my transfer bus
- Might have caught the flu from all the sick and coughing people on both busses
- Total journey time was double the usual
So how many of you use public transport? Have you started to use public transport again due to the rising cost of fuel? What are your views on cost verses convenience?
Please let me know your thoughts?
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