Memorandum
To:
New Network SDG
From:
Date:
16 January 2015
Subject:
Green Lane Medical Centre – Infrastructure Requirements and Future Bus
Routing Options
Decision Sought
Agreement on proposed approach to development of bus infrastructure and bus routing
options for Green Lane Medical Centre and approval for Network Management and Bus
Services team members to enter into formal discussion with the Auckland District Health Board
(DHB) and Auckland Transport (AT) Road Corridor Operations (RCO) to put in place projects
to deliver the elements proposed.
Summary of Recommended Approach
Frequent Crosstown route DOES NOT enter hospital grounds and is served by
upgrade bus stops on Green Lane West. This is the most time sensitive service
serving the hospital, that also serves several other passenger trip requirements;
Connector Hospital Link service DOES enter hospital grounds, ideally utilising new
upgraded bus stop / shelter facilities and making use of shorter turnaround
arrangements. Arguably, this service (as a dedicated hospital connector) is less time
sensitive and the additional running time is an acceptable price to pay for the closer
access to the destination;
RCO are approached with a view to allow bus stops on Green Lane West to have
partial indents removed – this would remove a significant source of operational delay
and creates footpath depth for upgraded customer waiting environment;
RCO are also asked to create “direct line” Green Lane West pedestrian crossing arm
on eastern side of intersection;
DHB are approached to deliver kerb work for relocated Hospital Bus Stop within
hospital grounds (directly adjacent to side of main building) and also to facilitate buses
turning around at the roundabout, rather than traversing the current circuitous route.
PT Group (PT) to provide advice to DHB on kerb alignments and turning radius’
required to make this work; and
PT to deliver new signature stop shelter as part of the DHB led facility upgrade project.
Also relocate customer information, including some form or realtime signage.
Background
Currently, two bus services (007 and 283) serve Green Lane Medical Centre. During weekday
daytime periods, both services enter the hospital grounds and this is a significant source of
operational delay, particularly for the 007 services, which is a long, crosstown service. During
evenings and weekends, the 007 does not enter the hospital grounds and uses a pair of bus
stops on Green Lane West that are located to the east of the hospital entrance. The 283 does
not run on evenings or weekends.
The New Network that will be publicly consulted mid-2015 also shows two services serving
the hospital:
Memorandum
Frequent Route 24 will be a 7-7-7 15 minute crosstown service linking Pt Chevalier
with Glen Innes via Balmoral Road, Green Lane and Orakei; and
Connector Route 92 will be a 7-7-7 30 minute “Hospital Link” service that will link
Downtown with Auckland Hospital, Mercy Ascot Hospital, Green Lane Clinical Centre
and Middlemore Hospital (via Ellerslie Station and Great South Road).
Auckland DHB has approached AT regarding the possibility of relocating and upgrading the
current bus stop within the hospital grounds and also reconfiguring the routing of buses within
the hospital – to remove the long route around the rear of the site and to also dissuade buses
from taking a short cut through the main entrance – this is not supposed to happen, but
evidently does from time to time, particularly when services are running late.
The diversion through the hospital is a significant source of delay for bus services currently,
but previous attempts to remove services from the hospital grounds have been resisted by the
DHB, who see that getting customers close to the front door is important for them.
Furthermore, the current arrangements where one service does different things at different
times / days is very unhelpful in terms of customer legibility.
There is a clear tension in this location between:
Customers who ARE NOT heading to the hospital being delayed by the diversion
through the grounds;
Customer who ARE heading to the hospital would be inconvenienced if the only stops
for the hospital were out on Green Lane West; and
Trying to achieve both of the above objectives and offering a service product that is
legible and transparent for our customers.
Either of the above scenarios has the potential to negatively impact demand growth in this
corridor. AT needs to form a view on what routes, if any, will or will not enter the hospital
grounds and then have robust logic / analysis to support this position when consulting with
key stakeholders and the general public.
Supporting Analysis
Following an initial discussion of this matter in the SGM forum, further analysis was requested
to provide a better evidence base for a decision to be based upon. This analysis, attached as
a supporting memo, found that:
Between 10% and 15% of AT HOP customers on 007 services that enter the hospital
actually get off there, with a significant majority staying on board as the service;
The current diversion into the hospital grounds takes approximately 6.5 minutes;
With a relocated bus stop and shorter turnaround, the time spent within the hospital
grounds could be reduced to around 4 minutes;
Any diversion into the hospital, even with a relocated stop, will still be hampered by:
o Delays at the westbound right turn signal phase from Green Lane;
o Delays at the eastbound signal to left turn into the hospital;
o Delays associated with the barrier arms (on both entry and exist) and their
associated traffic queues.
Memorandum
The partially indented bus stops on Green Lane West create a further source of delay
for crosstown services. When traffic volumes are high, pulling out into the traffic flow
is largely impossible until the hospital traffic light provide a break on the flow.
The current bus stops on Green Lane West are substandard in terms of customer
waiting environment, particularly on the northern side. The waiting environment will
remain relatively hostile, unless better setback from the kerb can be achieved.
The pedestrian walking route from the hospital entrance to the bus stops on Green
Lane West is challenging – multiple vehicle entrances and a missing pedestrian
crossing arm at the Green Lane west signals.
Stakeholder Analysis
The DHB is keen that all bus services enter the hospital grounds as this is where their
customers want to be. For AT, as documented in this memo, this presents problems as we
disadvantage other customers, increase operational cost and reduce service reliability to
achieve the DHB’s objectives.
The proposal here, whilst not as legible as would be desirable in most circumstances, attempts
to meet the objectives of both stakeholders:
The DHB retains a dedicated Hospital Link services, which could be branded and
marked accordingly as the main way in which to access several hospitals via public
transport. This may persuade them that AT is sufficiently committed to serving Green
Lane to allow them to invest in upgrading the bus stop and roading infrastructure within
the grounds to support it.
For AT, a key crosstown route achieve faster journey times and better reliability, but
we are still being seen to serve a major and sensitive destination in an appropriate
manner.
16th January 2015