Lack of spare Auckland buses raises 'March Madness' risk
Tuesday, 18 December 2018
Auckland bus and ferry passengers risk being left behind in March, with the city's transport agency saying it might not be able to manage the annual patronage spike.
An Auckland Transport board report said a lack of spare buses and only a small pot of money for 'March madness' meant some routes in the north, east, and central suburbs could face a squeeze.
'There is some early evidence of capacity constraints on key routes,' the report, obtained by Stuff, said.
The agency had managed the March spike this year thanks to added capacity, but it said 'patronage on some corridors has exceeded anticipated demand'.
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'March Madness' is a public transport phenomenon which sees the start of the academic year coincide with the month workers take the least annual holidays.
A burst of added capacity, such as the introduction of double-decker buses, helped this year, with an extra 4600 seats added daily for the spike.
A confidential report considered by AT's board last week listed 12 bus routes forecast to have 'serious capacity issues at times next March', with solutions found for only four of them.
Problems were foreseen especially in the morning peak on the 105 and 106 routes through Grey Lynn, services on Ti Rakau Drive, Howick and Tamaki, as well as those on Sandringham and New North roads.
AT said three operators – NZ Bus, Ritchies and Birkenhead Transport – had some surplus buses known as 'bankers' which could be pressed into service if needed.
A public transport advocate said the recurring problem was not a surprise because of the way AT was tackling it.
'It costs a hell of a lot to run an extra peak service – there's not enough work going on to try to get more people to travel off-peak when there's spare capacity,' Matt Lowrie from Greater Auckland said.
'AT needs to do more to improve bus lanes and the frequency of off-peak services so that students, for example, could travel later for afternoon classes.'
Lowrie said, anecdotally, some students travelled in the peak period regardless of class times because bus lane hours and higher frequency services gave them a quicker trip.
Ferry passengers from Hobsonville Point could be in trouble despite a bigger vessel being used, with patronage up 40 per cent over the past year as the big housing development rolls out.
'Capacity is expected to be constrained, with potential for some customers to be left behind,' the report said.
On the nearby ferry run from West Harbour, AT said a smaller 'stand-by' vessel could be available for March.
Rail services were expected to be able to cope through March and an additional 17 new trains were due to begin arriving later in 2019.
Next year's possible problems are a symptom of success for Auckland's public transport network.
Bus patronage is up 14 per cent in the east, 10 per cent in the north and four per cent in central Auckland.
New contracts and overhauled routes across Auckland have boosted bus capacity over several years, including 91 double deckers.
As well as the strain on the expanded bus fleet, AT's budgets are under pressure.
The agency report said it had $180,000 available to throw at 'March Madness' but the estimated cost of using additional 'banker' buses could be as high as $350,000.
Auckland Transport planned to start closely monitoring peak patronage from late February and report daily on passenger feedback and wait times.
The report, however, underlined there would be a budget balancing act.
'A conscientious approach will be taken to ensure that utilisation is kept to areas where expressly needed, due to the need to manage cost.'