Problems persist on new Wellington bus network but things generally improving
Monday, 3 December 2018
Driver shortages, lateness, and overcrowding are continuing to cause problems on Wellington's new bus network, almost five months after it was launched.
The latest report into the performance of the new system, launched across the city on July 15, says while things have generally improved, there are still a number of problems which need to be fixed.
Among them are an 'ongoing systemic shortage of drivers', overcrowding which has now extended into off-peak periods, problems with connections at transfer hubs, and lateness - especially on the No.3 route between Lyall Bay and Wellington.
The Greater Wellington Regional Council report said it was hoped many of the problems would be resolved once timetable changes and extra buses were introduced on NZ Bus routes from early February.
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Similar changes were made on Tranzurban's Wellington routes in November, and had resulted in the number of on-time buses jumping from 90 per cent to almost 98 per cent.
Council chief executive Greg Campbell said the driver shortage was a problem affecting bus operators across the country.
'All of our operators have sufficient drivers to run scheduled services, but when there is extra demand or drivers become unavailable …we can run short.'
Campbell told a parliamentary select committee in September he was confident he could bring Wellington's under-fire network up to an acceptable level by December 1.
On Monday, he said the network was 'very close' to reaching the targets he had set.
'There have been substantial improvements, particularly in punctuality and capacity. It will get even better next year with refinements to [NZ Bus] schedules and timetables, which will make a real, positive difference.'
Sustainable transport committee deputy chairman Daran Ponter acknowledged several problems remained on the network, but was happy with the improvement overall.
'I think we're starting to see improvements in quite a lot of areas where we said we'd look for those. In many cases, we're now where we were under the previous network.'
Changes to NZ Bus routes required extensive negotiation with drivers' unions, so could not be brought forward, Ponter said.
Until then, bus operators would be 'fighting a losing battle' to run on time.
However, there was also plenty of good news. For the week of November 19-25, 93 per cent of buses were on time at the first stop, while less than 2 per cent of buses were cancelled on average since September.
Real-time information boards were now almost 98 per cent accurate - an 'all-time high'.
But a six-week survey of 563 commuters, drivers, and community groups found 33 per cent thought the new network was worse than the old one, while less than half (45 per cent) said it was an improvement on the old system.
Twenty-two per cent said the new system was the same.