Hahei Park and Ride Success
Thursday 21 January 2010, 9:05AM
By Thames Coromandel District Council
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Second year success for Park and Ride concept proves its worth.
6,200 visitors used the innovative car park-to-beach bus service in Hahei over 18 days during this year's peak summer period, with a dramatic 40 per cent increase in passenger numbers over last year's trial.
Hahei's Park and Ride bus service operated from December 28 to January 14 and was supported by Environment Waikato (EW), Thames-Coromandel District Council (TCDC), land owners and tenants and volunteers from the Hahei community.
The seasonally large numbers of people visiting the small beach community were encouraged to park their cars at one of the reserves and pay $2 to be shuttled around by the Park and Ride service.
During the first week of January many also parked in the designated area and walked to the beach.
No accidents or incidents involving any of the approximately 2,500 vehicles parking up marred the success of the 18-day service period and a survey of passengers revealed about 50 per cent were tourists.
98.5 per cent also answered "Yes" to the question: "Was the Fare value for money?"
The single busiest day was January 2, when 828 passengers left approximately 240 cars in the park - many of these younger people that had come to the area for a concert in Whitianga.
Local knowledge and good inter-agency communication is credited with the development of the idea during the 2005 Community Plan process.
A meeting with TCDC, Community Board and Ratepayers Association members, EW and the Department of Conservation examined ways to cope with the impact of massive numbers of visitors to the small village during the peak summer period. This led to a trial of the Park and Ride concept during the summer of 2008/09.
Increased visibility and a slightly earlier start date proved that last year's learning curve was beneficial and played a part in this summer's increased success.
Hahei Ratepayers' Association Chair John North says the Park and Ride service made a big difference to the village. "It is an example of a creative low-cost win-win solution to a relatively complex problem."