Some Wellington bus services could be suspended because of driver shortage
Monday, 18 February 2019
Some Wellington bus services could be suspended because of a continuing driver shortage.
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.
The council was not able to say on Monday which routes may be cut, or how long the interim cancellations could last.
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'We are currently working together with NZ Bus to identify a range of opportunities to use resources more effectively,' it said in a statement.
The council has also proposed to help NZ Bus in its driver recruitment bid by doing things like placing job advertisements on buses.
NZ Bus cancelled almost 5 per cent of its buses between February 1 and 11, comfortably the most of Wellington's four operators.
It has also been hit by the delay of 17 double-decker buses which were meant to be phased in from February 3. They will now be phased in from February 26.
The problems come after the council introduced changes to NZ Bus routes two weeks ago - including adding extra buses - designed to improve the network.
Regional councillor Daran Ponter, deputy chairman of the council's sustainable transport committee, took to social media to lash out at NZ Bus for its failures.
'NZ Bus were aware that additional services would be provided from February 4 and they said they could deliver.
'We know this because NZ Bus signed off on the additional services and created the shift rosters which they in turn signed off with [the] Tramways [Union].
'Turns out that NZ Bus were not as prepared as they said they were, because of driver shortages - a problem that they and other operators are experiencing in Wellington, Auckland, Tauranga, and which stretches wider across the professional driving sector.'
The council had encouraged NZ Bus to use drivers from other companies to help address shortfalls, Ponter said.
Wellington's other commuter bus operators - Tranzurban, Mana, and Uzabus - had all managed to come up with enough drivers, while NZ Bus was 'dragging the chain'.
NZ Bus general manager of operations Claire Neville said the company was working hard to recruit drivers.
'The challenge that NZ Bus, and other operators, currently face is an increasing requirement to recruit more drivers as travel demand increases in the main centres across the country, at a time when employment is at an historically high level.'
The company was now looking at hiring drivers from overseas, Neville said.