Tauranga traffic: City investigates on-demand buses after trials in Timaru, Hawke’s Bay

Peak morning traffic on Turret Rd. Photo / George Novak

On-demand buses are being investigated as one of three options to tackle Tauranga’s congestion as public transport leaders search for a “breakpoint” to get more people out of cars.

A business case for a potential trial of on-demand buses is being worked on by Bay of Plenty Regional Council staff and was expected to be presented to the region’s joint Public Transport Committee in June. The topic may also come up in the council’s Long Term Plan discussions next month.

Committee chairman Andrew von Dadelszen said community feedback for on-demand buses made it clear to him that the service was wanted.

“On-demand is expensive, but the community does want it,” von Dadelszen said.

An on-demand bus service could operate via an app that people would use to effectively request a small bus - such as a 12-seater - to meet them nearby and take them to their desired location, or close to it.

They would likely run “corner to corner” rather than “door to door”, with potential exceptions for people with mobility issues, he said.

“It’s not an Uber service per se. It’s not a taxi service either. It’s the next best thing without running large buses around,” von Dadelszen said.

“The community does favour on-demand. I’ll be interested to see what the response is to our staff working up the business case for this.”

Bay of Plenty Regional Council member Andrew von Dadelszen says more could be done to get more people on to buses. Photo / George Novak

Trials of on-demand services were already under way elsewhere in New Zealand.

In 2021, Environment Canterbury adopted an on-demand service into its Long Term Plan 2021-2031, following a year-long trial in Timaru. At the time, Environment Canterbury councillor Peter Scott said before the trial, about 190 people a day used the six-route service. That grew to more than 500 users a day and 6000 registered users.

In Hawke’s Bay, an on-demand service recorded a 60 per cent increase in patronage within its first few months.

A survey of these passengers found 90 per cent felt the on-demand service made public transport easier.

Von Dadelszen said on-demand was one of three “major things” the committee was looking at to try to attract more people to public transport.

“On-demand was one of them that the community said they wanted. They also want park-and-ride, and we’re working with Tauranga City [Council] for a trial for a park-and-ride.

“The third one that we’ve been talking about for a while ... we’re looking at doing a 20-seater EV [to travel] along the main spine from Tauriko through to town and across to the Mount.”

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Public Transport Committee deputy chairman Lyall Thurston is a fan of on-demand buses. Photo / Andrew Warner

Von Dadelszen said public transport needed to be more “customer-centric”. This was particularly important given the increasing traffic congestion throughout the city.

“That is really the key thing. Too often, we act like a regulator, rather than, ‘How can we help?’”

“We really do want to get people using the buses. We have to find a breakpoint to get them wanting buses - smaller buses might be a way to do it.”

Regarding on-demand buses, committee deputy chairman Lyall Thurston said there was “every indication people love it”.

“It’s another option to get people moving, particularly those people who have accessibility issues and mobility issues.

“I’m enthusiastic - let’s give it a go. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”

Thurston said there was likely a high degree of technology expected to be involved, which could be a challenge for some older members of society, “but I think that is surmountable”.

Neither Thurston nor von Dadelszen were able to suggest an expected cost for on-demand at this stage.

Some Tauranga bus users asked for their thoughts about on-demand buses last year were open to the idea, but others preferred the scheduled system.