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[threemonkeys]

This is interesting. The local city council is trialling "hitching posts" in my area. These are signs that say either "Hutt CBD" or "Wellington CBD". The idea that if you stand beside one and if somebody in a car comes by they know you are headed for that destination and can stop and offer you a lift. The signs are beside bus stops so that if nobody stops you are able to catch the next bus that comes along. It is a kind of on the fly car pooling system.

I like the idea - for a nice safe pair of suburbs like Maungaraki & Normandale with a lousy bus service it just could work. I suspect the council sees it as a cheaper alternative to improving the buses. The current infrequent service goes to Petone station so you have another bus or train to get to those popular CBD destinations. Of course you will still have to take the bus home.

Has anybody come across anything like this before? The council claim "a world first", but I rather doubt that.

Comments

[stephanie-pegg.livejournal.com]

Once when I was at school, a guy came in to teach us basic self defense. To start off with, he pointed out all the people in the class that he thought looked like victims. I was one of them. (As well as ways to hit people, he was talking about things like body language and whatnot to discourage attacks in the first place.) Being short and female has its disadvantages. If I lived where you do, I'd be much happier about the council spending its dosh on a better bus service.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

If I lived where you do, I'd be much happier about the council spending its dosh on a better bus service.

I bet this costs less than more buses, which I suspect is the reason it got approved. I should say that there are some very narrow streets up here and so the possible bus routes are rather constrained, but frequency could be improved.