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HOVER for Waiheke IslandFree car parking spaces at Matiatia are to be offered to commuters willing to share car rides in a proposed car-pooling trial at the end of this year.... |
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HOVER for Waiheke Island
| Free park for shared rides Car-pooling comes one step closer By Lesley Springall, www.waihekemarketplace.co.nz Free car parking spaces at Matiatia are to be offered to commuters willing to share car rides in a proposed car-pooling trial at the end of this year. ACC transport committee chairman councillor Richard Simpson has put forward the idea for Waiheke after being impressed by a new commercial car-pooling system designed by Auckland-based start-up Trip Convergence Ltd. Trademarked HOVER (High Occupancy Vehicles in Express Routes), the proposed commercial car pooling system would see commuters meeting in one place and getting into each other’s cars, using ride credits for lifts to and from a central destination. The meeting place proposed for Waiheke is Ostend with the central destination being the Matiatia ferry terminal, according to ACC traffic and roading officer Andrew Allen. Trip Convergence director Paul Minett said he had been discussing the idea with council for more than a year and would be exploring how it could work on Waiheke with community board members and council officers, later this month. He said he also hoped to trial the new system in Waitakere City and in US city Annapolis, near Washington DC, next year. Inspired to invent the system after hours spent sitting in Auckland’s traffic, Canadian-born Aucklander Minett said if every community shared just one car ride a week it would mean 20% less traffic. Allen confirmed both council and community board were committed to trying out a car-pooling initiative and would be setting aside free spaces at Matiatia during the trial for commuters taking part. But whether this was the HOVER system, a more informal system, or a combination of the two had still to be decided, he said. “We don’t plan on spending a fortune putting any infrastructure in place - which is part of the problem I see running a HOVER trial because it could involve a fair amount of money that we just don’t have,” said Allen. He said any costs would need to come from the remainder of existing budgets. Whatever system is decided, the trial is likely to last three months. The parking spaces at Matiatia would be policed by council parking wardens to ensure only cars with three or more occupants used them, said Allen. If the trial is successful, the system could be integrated into the design plans for Matiatia and possibly rolled out to Auckland City, he said. Community board chairman Ray Ericson said if the trial worked it would be of benefit to all Waihekeans, but it was too early to make any further comment. |
