Content created in partnership with AT
To quote Edina Monsoon from Absolutely Fabulous, “What’s not to like? It’s public and it’s transport.” In an age where having a car costs as much as a small animal and a prime parking spot is gatekept, gaslight and girlbossed, tagging on and off to a bus, a train or ferry isn’t just the environmentally conscious option, but the chill option. It’s even the chic option, because who is more chic than a chill person? Nobody.
What follows are our personalised tips on how to make public transport work for you. It’s yours, after all.
Out shopping? Catch the bus or train to the mall
Remember those horror stories from a few years ago about people who got trapped in a mall parking lot? Don’t let that happen to you. Trains and buses run regularly through Newmarket’s flash shopping precinct, and both Sylvia Park and Manukau Westfields are on major bus and train lines, so you won’t have to wait long after you’ve put a neat dent in your checking account.
Take one worry off your plate: Leave the car at home
Any number of things can happen to your car if you take it out. Why stress about that when you already have to worry about study/work/getting through the day? Leave it at home, catch a bus, train or ferry, and be confident that your metallic bundle of joy will be there when you get home. (Also, it cannot be stated enough how much of your mental joy will be saved by not having to consider parking.)
Don’t mess with the Harbour Bridge, catch a ferry
Want to have a Devonport date night or a flash Takapuna dinner but don’t want to mess with the Harbour Bridge? Consider taking a quick 12 minute ferry across the harbour instead. They run regularly, and you get to live your boat glamour life, albeit only for a few minutes. (Of course, this also works in the other direction: If you live on the Shore, the city is a quick bus-and-boat away.)
Hack your commute by making it your exercise routine
We know you have a bicycle. It’s sitting in the garage, rusting, along with a sad helmet that, if you squint at it just right, looks like a human face. We also know you have a gym membership, rusting, looking nothing like a human face. Why not bring out the former, ditch the latter, and turn your work-commute into your exercise routine? Also: Cycling is chic, a bike lets your workmates know you have somewhere to go, and a way to get there, after the workday. It’s also way cheaper to carry around than a car.
Go from business meeting to the girlie group chat
If you have that interminable late afternoon meeting in Ponsonby or Parnell that could’ve been an email, don’t fret. You can leave your car at work, hop on a quick Link bus and be on K’Rd for the girlies. And if you make the decision to stay late – you do you – there are plenty of night buses that will get you quickly and safely back home.
Mix it up
The worst part of a commute is that it’s often the same. Helpfully, the AT mobile app lets you hack this. Instead of one bus that drops you off outside your work, why not take the one that drops you off five minutes away – and might let you sneak in a coffee from a new place? Try a different bus to take you home through a different suburb, rather than the one that takes you through the same stops, with the same people waiting at them. It’ll brighten up your day, trust us.
The noble walk
We understand you might want to go with the flow on occasion, without keeping an eye on the time. You know what operates on no schedule but your own? Your own two legs. Why not, instead of walking down Khyber Pass, walk across the bridge to the hospital and cut through the Domain? Instead of walking up Franklin Road, wondering what the Christmas lights look like, walk across Hopetoun Bridge? There are palaces for all eyes to see, it just takes your legs to walk.
For more information on how to mix your go check out the AT website and download the AT mobile app
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Photography: Abigail Dell'Avo
Model: Alejandro Buitrago
