Auckland public transport routes gain fan following on social media

Auckland’s public transport system has unexpectedly found itself in the middle of a growing social media trend, with followers celebrating their favourite bus and train routes across the city.

Since late April, more than 30 accounts have sprung up on Instagram, each dedicated to a specific public transport route.

With a combined following nearing the 9000 mark, these pages have changed the routine commute between Point A and Point B into a community-driven affair.

Enthusiasts share updates and sightings of buses and trains on these accounts with the fervour typically reserved for celebrities, and “beef” between routes is not uncommon, as each account engages in good-natured banter and humorous jabs at rival services.

But what drives this fascination?

Harry and Alicia*, who run an Instagram account described as “the 70 fan club” for the bus route between Britomart and Botany, told 1News they decided to create their fan page after seeing similar accounts based in Australia.

“This was literally a lunchtime conversation one day that just turned into an actual bus fan account,” said Alicia.

The fine art of bus spotting

Bus spotting — the act of observing and documenting buses navigating the city’s streets, a people once did with trains or birds — is at the heart of this trend.

Their choice of the 70 bus stemmed from its popularity with university students.

“It’s quite direct as well and comes fairly frequently,” said Alicia.

Harry said they also chose it because was an “easy bus to take a few videos of.”

The 70 bus page is far and away the largest of the accounts with close to 5800 followers.

Content created by the pair ranges from video edits of buses navigating the city’s streets to “a little bit of backwash towards some of the other bus accounts”, Harry said.

Followers can contribute to the page by sending content through to be posted on the account with credit.

“Everyone is rooting for their local bus route. People at uni or work, everyone is showing a bit of appreciation.”

Their first post to go “semi-viral” was an Instagram reel set to a Kendrick Lamar verse that dissed both Drake and J. Cole, referring to the trio as the “big three” in rap music.

“Auckland Transport commented on it, and then that’s when we noticed that people started making other bus accounts, so we decided to embrace it and make a little group chat with everyone,” said Harry.

Alicia said Auckland’s public transport system has “definitely got better than where it was a few years ago”.

‘A long way to go’

Harry agreed and said the transport network had “come a long way” but that there was still a “long way to go” in terms of the number of bus routes and train lines.

They acknowledged that it was good to have some appreciation for public transport running well.

“Not every second bus is cancelled now, I can actually get where I want to go,” said Alicia.

The pair said pricing was a common complaint from followers about public transport in Auckland.

Fares effectively doubled for passengers under the age of 25 at the beginning of May after the Government scrapped subsidies that had made fares half-price for that age group.

The change did not affect pre-existing discounts funded directly by councils, which include concessions for tertiary and secondary school students.

It did not affect other Community Connect discounts introduced by the previous government, which Transport Minister Simeon Brown opted to keep.

“We hear about stories from Queensland where it’s like 50 cents to go everywhere, and it’s like ‘oh, we wish we could have that’,” said Harry.

Auckland Transport said it was aware of the accounts and added it loved the enthusiasm.

‘Buses are cool and Auckland is starting to realise it’

“We love that people are getting creative and showing enthusiasm about their favourite routes. Hopefully, it’s the start of something great,” said senior social media specialist Jess Robertson.

“Buses are cool, and Auckland is starting to really realise that.”

Last week, more than 1.4 million passengers boarded buses across the Auckland region, prompting Robertson to declare that “buses are back.”

“Public transport is good for the planet, good for reducing traffic, and good for Auckland.”

*Harry and Alicia are pseudonyms.