buses

For the first time in a very long while, I'm without a car. So, since arriving at work around 6.30 this morning I'd been fretting about how on earth I would get from the North Shore to sunny Mt Eden. The last time I had to do this, I didn't have to worry about motorways and bridges. I didn't have to worry about which bus to take, when and at what stop. Tell you something for nothing: it aint easy. The maxx website, which was called Rideline last time I had a reason to use it, was impossible. Firstly, the ASP server was down for the first hour of trying to sort the damn trip out and when it finally came back up, it became a nightmare. Gone are the many listings to give you an option of times. Gone are the lovely snake diagrams which detail all the stops en route. All there is now are maps with multicoloured lines right over the street names, just in case I dared to pick a different stop than the one suggested. (I'd provide a link, but the ASP is on the brink again.) And then, the bloody cheek - Maxx wanted me to take four busses. I don't think so.

So I gave up on the website (the low-res pdf's of timetables didn't help either, can't see the street names) and rang the telephone line. Who said the internet was useful. For her, I made it easy. "Get me from work to town". Of course, her first suggestion was to take two busses to get across the bridge. I was livid.

In the end, I ignored all the instructions Maxx had given me and, resolute, walked to the nearby shops and - via the supermarket - found a way home.

My hat goes off to all the people who manage to navigate Auckland's busses. If I could, I would walk over the bridge - it's stupid that we can't. It'd be faster than the bus, and much less of a headache. Let's hope it doesn't get worse before it gets better. That is, if they ever finish the dig-a-thon up and down the northern. (speaking of which, would they just hurry up already with Fanshaw St, how hard can it be.)