Government withholds 'contentious' research on bus drivers' conditions

Friday, 22 February 2019

Bus drivers in Waikato demonstrate during a lockout in December 2018.

The Government has refused to release potentially 'contentious' research on how public transport legislation is affecting the working conditions of bus drivers.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford has declined to release two research reports to Stuff, saying more work is being carried out.

First Union, which has taken part in the work, said urgent intervention was needed in the bus industry, because the hours being worked by drivers are dangerous.

Unions and drivers say the competition between operators to secure public transport contracts is behind poor working conditions and the current driver shortage.

* Wellington's 'chronic' driver shortage

* Auckland bus strikes: wildcat drivers' protests feared to worsen

* Buses cancelled on Auckland's North Shore after drivers' protest**

Before the 2017 election, Twyford had conceded the competitive tendering system called the Public Transport Operating Model (PTOM), may be driving down work conditions.

He commissioned a report early in 2018, received a draft in July, and asked for more detail.

'The approach to, and findings of, the first piece of research may be contentious for some participants,' wrote the Ministry of Transport's Brent Johnston in a report to Twyford in September.

'We have considered proactively releasing the first research report in full.

'However, we are concerned that doing so would heighten the risk of stakeholders disengaging with further research,' wrote Johnston.

'The success of the second piece of research relies on the ongoing commitment of earlier participants.'

Twyford declined Stuff's request to see two reports from consultants Allen and Clarke, and ministry briefings obtained under the Official Information Act have had references to the reports' general findings, redacted.

'Releasing this report prior to the completion of further research would compromise my ability to make policy decisions on this issue,' Twyford wrote to Stuff.

The reports have been written following interviews with bus companies, council and unions.

Unions say the PTOM system is at the heart of worsening driver shortages and long working hours for bus drivers, with companies locked into long-term fixed price contracts with regional councils.

'There is no problem with the number of people who can drive buses - they are just really s… jobs,' said Louisa Jones, the Assistant General Secretary of First Union.

'One company told us they have to roster drivers for 5-and-a-half-hour unbroken shifts, to be competitive with other bus companies,' she told Stuff.

Jones said the word last week from the Minister's office was that the reports would be out 'very soon.'

Twyford told Stuff he expected the further research to be complete mid-year.

Bus driver shortages continue to lead to the cancellation of services in Auckland, Wellington and Tauranga.

Thousands of commuters have been left stranded in recent days, with operator NZ Bus cancelling up to 30 buses a day in the morning rush hour.

With the company's resources stretched, Greater Wellington Regional Council is proposing to cancel some lesser-used bus services to free up drivers for busier routes.

In Auckland, the council agency Auckland Transport said driver shortages remain a problem.

Cancellations peaked in mid-December at 540 in one week, though not all due to driver shortages, equivalent to 4 per cent of all services.

Almost as many were cancelled in a week in mid-January.