Itchen Street Bus Stop and Parking Layout

The single long bus stopping point had become a traffic and pedestrian safety issue. Often, more than the allowed two buses would park in the space - with the rear bus extending out, and sometimes across, the Itchen and Thames Street Junction. Buses were also parked nose-to-tail, which required reversing to get into and out of spaces - often with tourists around. Pedestrian visibility when crossing Itchen Street was also limited by close-parked buses, with reports of near-misses between pedestrians and local traffic.

Council consulted the NZTA guidance on kerbside bus stops which can be found here: NZTA Kerbside bus stops, and decided on the split-stop approach.

This is described at the above link as: Split kerbside bus stop with parking on either side for two standard 13.5m-long buses supporting independent operation.

It also follows the Public Transport Design Guidance for bus stops where buses are not operating on a single timetable, like our independent tour operators; 

The existing stop had this layout, meaning buses were dependent on others moving to enter or exit their space:

And the new stops have the following layout, allowing buses to enter and exit independently without reversing:

As a result of these changes

• Buses no longer need to reverse into the front space if the rear is occupied or reverse across the Itchen/Thames St junction to get out of the rear space if the front one is occupied. This improves things for tour operators working on different schedules, and other vehicles using Itchen Street.

• Buses also can no longer park nose-to-tail, giving better sightlines for drivers when pedestrians attempt to cross the road from the space in-between the two buses.