KEY POINTS:
Aucklanders and Wellingtonians are continuing to switch to public transport, says Infratil, the parent company of NZ Bus.
In it latest figures the company says that in August Auckland saw an increase of 6 per cent across the board from a year ago with over 3.4 million passengers making their journey by bus in the month.
There were a number of factors for the increase and varied from route to route.
The highest growth in passenger numbers occurred in the central isthmus with an increase of 9.1 per cent.
The Western Bays grew by 10.3 per cent on last year, reflecting the cessation of Queen Street roadworks that took place in 2007.
West Auckland and North Shore shared increases of 4.6 per cent, the North Shore being largely the result of timetabling changes to accommodate the Northern Express.
In the Wellington region patronage rose 5.9 per cent.
The figures come in the wake of Infratil chief executive Lloyd Morrison taking a swipe at some Auckland commentators and politicians wanting a return to complete public control of public transport.
In 2005 Infratil bought the New Zealand public transport operations of the British company Stagecoach for $250 million.
The proponents of public control would have a hard time winning support from anyone who remembered the run-down municipal bus services that used to be on offer to Aucklanders, Mr Morrison said.
"They seem to believe that the requirement for private operators to make a profit is intrinsically wrong, and that local authorities, relieved of any need to deliver a return on money invested, could deliver better, lower-cost services."
The model of centralised control was changed because it did not work, he said.
"The debate today should be about efficiency, not rehashing the philosophy of centralised ownership.
"It will take several years for passengers to get the full benefit of the changes being made, but patronage is beginning to increase."
Meanwhile, Infratil, which owns 66 per cent of Wellington Airport, said operational figures showed August domestic passengers were 10 per cent above the previous year. It was down on the very high growth of recent months but still a strong result.
Auckland and Christchurch routes continued to grow strongly, reflecting the impact of competition since Pacific Blue's domestic start up.
Apart from Invercargill, which has had new services introduced by Air New Zealand since this time last year, other routes were generally softer than the previous August.
- NZPA
