Last week, I was dressed up as a policeman. I was doing some marketing for one of the sponsors of an electric vehicle summit. It was a change from sitting at home on Teams calls doing project work. But that’s not what I want to talk about today.
While I was there, I met another ex-pat Englishman called Julian Ostling. When he moved to New Zealand, he didn’t want to live in the city, so he found a coastal retreat about an hour north of downtown Auckland thinking there would be public transport suitable for commuters. The best he could find was having to change buses half way. And that was just hassle, not to mention 90 minutes. And to top it all, it can take two hours by car in bad weather.
His answer was to set up a car pooling service. Then in 2015, he acquired a 16 seater minibus and the Mahu City Express was born. Now he runs two full sized luxury electric coaches which run at regular times. Look at all these benefits:
- No emissions.
- The drivers are commuters themselves, so they get paid to go to work and get there for free.
- The bus can use the bus lanes, so it’s faster than a car.
- The fare is about the same as the cost of driving and certainly cheaper once you factor in not having to pay Auckland’s exorbitant parking fees.
- And of course passengers are saving 68km (42 miles) each way on their car’s mileage.
- On top of that, customers get two hours a day to work, sleep, read, watch movies, stare out of the window or chat.
- Because these are regular services, there’s a regular crowd on board and it becomes sociable.
- They serve ice creams on Mondays and sometimes bubbles on Fridays.
What I really like about this idea is how it works on so many levels. Yet it’s so simple. I wish him all the best as he looks to expand. I also wish I had ideas like that. Do you? Is this something that could be set up in your neighbourhood?
