Rising passenger numbers that reflect more people choosing to use or return to public transport have been welcomed by Papakura Local Board.
The board has told Auckland Transport it strongly supports its ride-share AT Local service in Conifer Grove and Takaanini, and is pleased to see the Papakura train station park and ride project progressing.
Acting board chair Jan Robinson says additional car parking is urgently required.
“AT Local is innovative and seems to have been widely adopted by the community, while the high number of vehicles parking in the streets around Papakura station underlines the demand.
“We have long advocated for a more substantial park and ride facility in the town and will continue to do so.”
Increasing access to parking at Papakura Railway Station remains a focus of the local board.
While welcoming the rise in public transport patronage, the board was concerned southern line rail closures could impact passenger numbers and urged AT to ensure any replacement rail buses had the capacity to meet demand.
“We are especially concerned that key locations such as Middlemore Hospital are well-serviced,” Robinson says.
“A number of our people take the train to Middlemore to access critical medical care, and we don’t want to see that easy access curtailed in any way.”
The board also suggested AT consider trialing a T2 and bus lane from Selwyn Oaks Retirement Village to the Takaanini interchange.
“We acknowledge that would result in a loss of on-road parking and the removal of the cycle lanes but one option might be to only have the bus lanes at certain times,” Robinson says.
AT is still working through formalising the AT Local service and says the project to create additional park-and-ride spaces at Papakura has encountered stormwater issues.
Experts should finish detailed stormwater design shortly, with AT then able to seek approval to lodge a resource consent application for the required work.
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