Central crosstown bus changes Central crosstown bus changes
Auckland Transport are making changes to central isthmus crosstown bus services including the OuterLink, 64 and 650 routes.
Date of the changes: 20 October 2024
Project overview
We’ve heard from you that the OuterLink is not working as well as it should. It’s not reliable and buses are catching up to each other along the route, meaning you sometimes wait a long time for a bus and then 2 turn up at once. It’s not meeting its frequent promise of a bus every 12 to 15 minutes.
Circular routes such as the OuterLink are problematic as they are required to wait in order to adhere to the timetable. This often happens while passengers are on board which offers a poor journey experience.
And we know that people cannot make some crosstown journeys as easily as they would like because there is a gap in the frequent bus network along Balmoral Road and Greenlane.
So we're making changes to some of the buses that cross Auckland’s central area to address these problems.
Benefits
- Improving the reliability of the OuterLink will create an improved service for most current users and make it more useful for people.
- Increasing the frequency of the 650 bus to every 15 minutes will allow more people to get to more destinations, more often.
Project details
Changes to the OuterLink route
- Removing the section of the OuterLink route between St Lukes and Newmarket via Balmoral/Mount Eden where there is duplication with other routes to provide better reliability of the remaining section of the route. This will improve customer experience of the OuterLink for those travelling between Mount Albert, Pt Chevalier, St Lukes, Mount Albert, Westmere, Herne Bay, City Centre, Parnell, and Newmarket.
- Removing the short section of the route at the western end of Jervios Rd between Herne Bay Road and West End Road to create a quicker trip to and from the City Centre. The Outerlink will no longer use the bus stop at 219 Herne Bay Road. The next nearest bus stops are at 203 Herne Bay Road (for buses towards the City Centre) and 270 Herne Bay Road (for buses away from the City Centre).
- Removing the need for buses to wait at Victoria Park to create a quicker trip to and from the City Centre.
Extending route 64 to St Lukes
Route 64 will extend from Kingsland Station to St Lukes via Sandringham Road. This will create a new connection between St Lukes, Mount Eden Village and Newmarket. It will travel in both directions on Walters Avenue and will no longer travel on Onslow Road.
Increasing the frequency of route 650
- Route 650 will be renamed as route 65 and its frequency will increase to every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm, 7 days a week it will also operate later in the evening.
- The route will will change slightly at the Point Chevalier end, now circulating Walker Park in an anticlockwise direction.
New school bus service for Manukau Road schools
A new school bus will added to transport students from Mount Eden to Epsom schools (St Cuthberts College, Diocesan School for Girls, Epsom Girls Grammar). It will travel between Potters Park and Epsom schools via Mount Eden village, following the existing OuterLink route.
Download the Epsom schools and Balmoral and Mount Eden school bus route map (PDF 145KB).
What these changes mean
- Most people will see no change to the way they travel.
- Some existing customers might need to transfer between buses or trains to complete the journeys that they are currently doing.
- The new services will be more reliable and in most cases run more often.
How these proposed changes would affect your current journey
St Lukes to Mount Eden Village
- Take the frequent route 64 from St Lukes to Valley Road near Mount Eden Village.
Mount Eden Village to Manukau Road
- Take route 64 to Newmarket and transfer there to the 30 or 309 for Manukau Road.
- Use new school bus if you are a student travelling to an Epsom school near Manukau Road.
Epsom to St Lukes
- Take route 30 or 309 to Newmarket and change there to route 64.
- Take route 30 or 309 to Green Lane West and transfer there to the frequent route 65.
Epsom to Parnell
- Take the frequent route 30 or route 309 along Manukau Road and transfer at 277 Broadway to an InnerLink or OuterLink travelling to Parnell.
St Lukes to Newmarket
- Take new route 64.
Mount Eden Village to Dominion Road
- Take route 64 from Valley Road near Mount Eden Village.
Newmarket to Parnell/city universities/Wellesley Street
- No change but with a more reliable OuterLink service.
St Lukes to City Centre
- Take the OuterLink via Point Chevalier.
- Take route 22 from Morningside Drive.
Westmere/Point Chevalier/Herne Bay to Wellesley Street and city universities
- No change but with a more reliable OuterLink service with faster journey times.
Background on the changes
Public consultation on these changes took place in 2019.
In 2019 AT consulted on changes to central crosstown buses that included the OuterLink and 650 bus routes.
The changes that AT proposed would change the OuterLink route so that it would only run St Lukes to Newmarket via the city centre. Most of the southern half of the current loop would be replaced by improvements to the current 650 and the introduction of a new 64 bus service.
The consultation ran from 18 November to 23 December 2019 and received 1,186 feedback responses. These responses provided AT with a range of different views and themes, the key messages received were:
- 39% said they didn’t want to take more than one bus to complete their journey
- 20% said they liked the promise of a more reliable OuterLink service
- 10% said they liked the increased frequency on the 650 route
- 5% said they would need to walk further if the proposed changes were made.
Following the consultation in 2019 AT paused the project because:
- we needed more time to further understand the impacts of the closure and construction of Maungawhau (Mount Eden) Station and monitor the effect of the new 64 bus service on travel patterns
- we needed to consider what improvements could be made to bus stop infrastructure at key transfer locations to make it easier and safer to change from one bus to another
- there was already a lot of change happening in the area with Maungawhau (Mount Eden) Station closing and the COVID 19 pandemic / lockdowns and we did not wish to overwhelm the Mount Eden area with too many changes to public transport services in such a short space of time.
AT now has a new plan that addresses many of the concerns raised at consultation.
Main differences between the 2019 proposal and the 2023 proposal
- Route 64 is now in place and has been operating for 4 years.
- There are now bus stops for route 64 on Valley Road nearer Mount Eden Village.
- Route 64 will be extended to St Lukes. It will no longer run on Onslow Road and will run in both directions on Walters Road.
- The OuterLink will no longer travel on Jervios Road west of West End Road.
Download the 2019 Central Crosstown bus changes consultation report (PDF 1.9MB, 32 pages).
Download the Central Crosstown Bus Services Consultation brochure (PDF 639KB)
Bus stop and street changes
The following bus stop and street changes are required to facilitate these changes.
Cornwallis Street, St Lukes layover
Engagement start date: 17 June 2024
Details:
- create a place for buses and bus drivers to wait between trips
- will require the removal of 11 on-street car parks for tracking and 10 for bus parking
- this leaves 16 car parks and 27 off-street car parks in Warren Freer Park.
Benefits:
- provides a safe place for bus drivers to wait between trips following the introduction of bus changes
- will allow for more reliable bus services in the area
- it means buses do not have to wait outside residential homes.
What we are engaging on:
- How will this affect you?
- 2 options:
- one bus park in front of the clubrooms and one closer to St Lukes will save 9 parks (9 vs 11).
- 2 bus parks together closer to St Lukes Rd (11 parks vs 9). This option may be safer.
Walters Road, Mount Eden bus stops
Consultation start date: TBD
Details:
- create 2 new bus stops near Kingsland Station for the route 64 bus service
- will require the removal of 4 on-street car parks on Walters Avenue and 4 on Sandringham Road.
Benefits:
- provides safe places for customers to get on and off route 64 buses
- connects with Kingsland Station and Kowhai Intermediate School
- the stops are not immediately outside residential homes.
What we are engaging on:
- How will this affect you?
Walker Park, Point Chevalier layover and bus stops
Consultation start date: TBD
Details:
- create 2 new bus stops and a bus waiting space near Walker Park
- will require the removal of on-street car parks on Walker Road and Target Street
- removes the current bus stops on the other side of the road because the route 65 bus will switch from driving around Walker Park in an clockwise direction to an anti-clockwise direction.
Benefits
- provides safe places for customers to get on and off route 65 buses.
What we are engaging on:
- How will this affect you?