[LCA2015-Chat] Shuttle from Airport

[Ewen McNeill]

On 5/01/15 17:39, Mark Walkom wrote:
> I noticed that it's ~$80 for a taxi and $35 for a shuttle, each way,
> which is a bit expensive. There is a public bus that is $16 though.

_From_ the airport, if you're not in a hurry and don't mind walking a 
bit, taking the Airbus (http://www.airbus.co.nz/) mentioned in the Wiki 
is probably a good option, unless you connect with N friends all 
travelling to/from the same location at the same time and can split 
costs.  The AirBus is certainly my plan from the airport.

It appears Route #1 via Mt Eden Road will go down Symonds Street (map 
linked from Wiki: 
http://www.airbus.co.nz/pictures/map-1-horizontal.png), which 
conveniently is the top of the ridge so I think it should be basically 
all downhill from there to both Uni Hall and Carlaw Park (stop #7147 at 
25 Symonds St near the "corner" of Symonds St and Wellesley St West 
should work for both, but the earlier stop on Symonds St near the 
Langham hotel (83 Symonds St AFAICT) might work better for Uni Hall 
depending on how you get into Uni Hall -- as the earlier stop is higher 
up the hill).

AFAICT the Mt Eden Road route runs every 30 minutes during the weekend 
daytime (http://www.airbus.co.nz/timetable) -- alternating with the less 
useful Dominion Road, which goes down Queen Street -- the valley -- in 
the city.  The journey planner thing estimates it's a 41 minute bus trip 
(presumably without much traffic), plus 10-15 minutes (approx 1km) walk 
to Carlaw Park.   At a guess the shuttle ride would take 40-45 minutes 
all up in no traffic, with less waiting around at the airport and less 
walking, but cost more.   (If you wanted to skip the walk to Carlaw Park 
then staying on the bus further downtown and then catching a cab from, 
eg, Galway St outside Britomart -- 
https://at.govt.nz/driving-parking/taxis/ -- could be an option, and 
should still be a lot cheaper than a taxi from the airport.  I doubt 
that makes sense for Uni Hall as the bus route gets pretty close to Uni 
Hall.)

Going back to the airport I suspect group booking a shuttle would be 
most convenient -- and give you a better chance of a decent sized 
vehicle.  The AirBus appears only to run out via Queen Street, so it'd 
be a bit of a walk downhill from Uni Hall, and a non-trivial 
up/over/around from Carlaw Park.  (SuperShuttle are the Big Name shuttle 
in Auckland/Wellington/etc -- not neccessarily the cheapest, but they've 
been doing it for ages.)

Ewen