Covid-19: North Shore Sky Bus service yet to resume post-pandemic
Tēnā koutou. The Sky Bus North Harbour Express, north Aucklanders’ only direct link to the airport, is yet to resume more than a year after the service was suspended due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The 55-minute service, which stops outside Albany Westfield and the Smales Farm and Akoranga bus stations along the Northern Busway, cost $25 and $46 for adult one-way and return tickets respectively, with discounted fares for seniors and families.
North Auckland residents have still been able to get to the airport on public transport, via the NX1 to Britomart, train to Papatoetoe Station and the Airport Link bus to the airport.
However, the trip requires two transfers and takes about an hour and 50 minutes from Albany for $7.20 and two hours from the Hibiscus Coast Bus Station for $8.28 – double the time it would take on the Sky Bus service.
Alternatively, north Aucklanders can take the NX1 into the city – $6.12 from the Hibiscus Coast and $4.86 from Albany – and catch the Sky Bus Auckland City Express, taking between an hour and five minutes and an hour and a half.
A Sky Bus spokesman said it is keen to bring the service back, however it would need to see a "significant lift" in patronage for its Auckland City Express. The service resumed in July, however patronage is down 80 per cent compared to pre-Covid.
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Poll: Does the building consent process need to change?
We definitely need homes that are fit to live in but there are often frustrations when it comes to getting consent to modify your own home.
Do you think changes need made to the current process for building consent? Share your thoughts below.
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the Conversations column of your local paper.
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91.5% Yes
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8.2% No
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0.3% Other - I'll share below!
Food and product recalls
These items have been recalled during the last month. If you have any of these items at home, click on the title to see the details:
Product recalls
Avanti, Malvern Star & Raleigh bicycles
Yoto Kids Speaker
Anko Kids Pyjamas
Battery drill chainsaw attachment
Industrial pedestal misting fan
Yamaha adaptor
Zero Tower safety harness
Naturacoco moisturising cream
Thule child bike seat
Food recalls:
Maketū pies mussel pie
The Catering Studio cottage pie
Matakana Smokehouse gravlax/salmon
Our Fruit Box fruit juices
ProLife Foods value packs - nuts, raisins.
YY Dumplings & Fu Yuan ready-to-eat meat products
Waiheke Herbs italian herb spread
We hope this message was helpful in keeping your household safe.
Say goodbye to tyre waste
About 40% of the 6.5 million tyres Kiwis use every year are recycled, repurposed, or used as tyre-derived fuel. But the rest end up in landfills, stockpiled or dumped.
The good news is now there’s an easy solution to all that tyre waste. It’s called Tyrewise and is New Zealand’s first national tyre recycling scheme.
Tyrewise ensures that tyres in Aotearoa New Zealand are recycled or repurposed properly, saving millions from going to the landfill.
Find out more about the scheme online.