Public Transport for the Waitakere Ranges Residents’ Survey - Summary Report Prepared by Buzz Channel and Auckland Transport September 2017 Waitākere Ranges Public Transport Survey – Summary Report Page 1 of 69 Executive summary Auckland Transport and the Waitakere Ranges Local Board have been investigating what Public Transport services may be needed in the Waitakere Ranges area. In March/April 2016, Auckland Transport held a survey for residents of the following areas: French Bay, Henderson Valley, Huia, KareKare, Konini (Kaurilands Rd, Daffodil St, Konini Rd), Laingholm, Oratia, Parau, Paturoa Bay, Piha, South Titirangi, Te Henga (Bethells Beach), Waiatarua, Wood Bay and Woodlands Park. These areas were targeted because they either have no current public transport service, have limited service, or were having services removed when the new West Auckland bus network was implemented in June 2017. Participation In total 839 feedback forms were received. The areas with the highest participation were Huia/Cornwallis/Parau with 116 residents from this area responding, followed by Wood Bay/French Bay/Paturoa Bay/South Titirangi with 108 respondents, and thirdly Piha with 101 respondents. Initial findings In order to determine if there is sufficient demand for any new services, data was grouped by potential routes; i.e. feedback from people who lived in the same area and whose chosen destinations could be accommodated by the same route, was analysed together. In most cases the numbers of people who said they would use each of these potential routes, and how often they said they would use them, was not sufficient to operate a viable bus service. However, two possible scheduled services were identified which could be viable and would warrant further investigation. Potential route 1 – Piha to Glen Eden, via Waiatarua and Oratia. Although relatively few residents of Piha said they would use a public transport service often, when the numbers were combined with Waiatarua and Oratia this could be considered a viable service. The proposed route would be via West Coast Rd and terminating at Glen Eden. Glen Eden is proposed as a terminus because it would benefit people wanting to travel to the City; the route would likely experience less congestion than a route which terminated at Henderson; and also people wishing to travel to Henderson would only be two train stops away, which would not cost more with an AT HOP card due to Simpler Fares. The estimated journey time for such a service would be approximately 50 minutes. This means that the journey time from Piha to the City, if a passenger transferred to rail at Glen Eden, would be approximately one and a half hours. Compared to the time it takes to travel by car (between 55 mins to 1h30 at peak), this could affect the popularity of such a service, however, it is recognised that such a service could provide other benefits for passengers wanting to commute to the city, such as the opportunity to work or read during the commute, and also not needing to pay for parking. It should also be noted that the city centre is not necessarily the destination of the majority of passengers. Potential route 2 – Huia / Parau to New Lynn. Residents of Huia and Parau showed considerably strong demand for public transport in the survey, with at least 50 people saying they would use a public transport service often (daily or 1-4 times per week) at peak times. Relative demand was also shown across the whole day. Waitākere Ranges Public Transport Survey – Summary Report Page 2 of 69 A potential service could be investigated to run from Huia to New Lynn, via Woodlands Park. It would not likely detour via Cornwallis, because only seven people from Cornwallis participated in the survey and a detour would create significant time delays. Areas with low demand Although the other areas included in the survey have shown to have minimum demand, it could be recommended to investigate non-scheduled services, similar to the early operating model of the “Kowhai Connection” which trialled in Warkworth. Please see the different sub-sections of this report for more detailed conclusions of each area that participated in the survey. Next steps The information gathered in this survey has enabled an initial assessment of the public transport needs and expected demand from residents of the Waitakere Ranges area. Although two potential new services have been identified, there are a number of key factors required for these to be implemented. There is currently no budget for the projected operational costs, and there needs to be sufficient resource to progress the investigation of routes and infrastructure. The risks involved are that patronage would not be as high as people expressed in the survey, and that the long journey time from Piha to the City could mean that the service is not attractive enough compared to driving. There is a risk that these new services would not meet NZTA requirements, therefore there is a scenario that these services would have to be fully funded by Auckland Council / Auckland Transport. Due to the current implementation of the new public transport network for Auckland’s urban areas, resource constraints mean that additional services for the outer areas of Auckland, including the Waitakere Ranges, are not being progressed until after the New Network’s completion, estimated for late 2018. Therefore the next steps include: - Working with the Local Board to investigate funding options - Investigating the potential for alternative public transport solutions such as an on-demand system Further actions to investigate public transport solutions for the Waitakere Ranges will be undertaken after the New Network’s implementation is completed. Waitākere Ranges Public Transport Survey – Summary Report Page 3 of 69 Contents Executive summary .............................................................................................. 2 Participation .................................................................................................. 2 Initial findings ................................................................................................ 2 Next steps – to discuss ................................................................................. 3 Background .......................................................................................................... 5 Areas of investigation ................................................................................... 5 Potential services and buses ........................................................................ 6 The Waitakere Ranges Local Board Visitors’ Survey .................................... 6 Timeframe .................................................................................................... 6 Authoring of this report ................................................................................. 6 Survey approach and summary of results ............................................................ 7 Survey approach .......................................................................................... 7 Summary of results ....................................................................................... 7 Analysis approach ................................................................................................ 7 Survey Results ..................................................................................................... 9 Place of residence & important destinations to access ................................. 9 Examining most important destination via place of residence ..................... 10 1. Huia / Cornwallis / Parau ....................................................................... 11 2. Wood Bay / French Bay / Paturoa Bay / South Titirangi ........................ 16 3. Piha ...................................................................................................... 20 3B. Residing in Piha and accessing Henderson ......................................... 21 3C. Residing in Piha and accessing Glen Eden .......................................... 25 4. Waiatarua (Forest Hill / West Coast Rd / Scenic Dr) ............................. 29 4B. Residing in Waiatarua and accessing Glen Eden ................................. 30 4C. Residing in Waiatarua and accessing Henderson ................................ 34 5. Laingholm ............................................................................................. 38 6. Konini .................................................................................................... 42 7. Oratia .................................................................................................... 46 7B. Residing in Oratia and accessing Glen Eden ....................................... 47 7C. Residing in Oratia and accessing Henderson ....................................... 51 8. Karekare ............................................................................................... 55 9. Henderson Valley .................................................................................. 59 10. Woodlands Park .................................................................................... 63 Other Findings ................................................................................................... 68 11. Comparison with Piha Visitor Survey .................................................... 68 12. Additional Comments ............................................................................ 69 Waitākere Ranges Public Transport