Ritchies bus driver Margaret Ututaonga was excited about the first bus run to Whangārei Heads. Photo / Tania Whyte
Ritchies bus driver Margaret Ututaonga was excited about the first bus run to Whangārei Heads. Photo / Tania Whyte
A soggy start to a new Whangārei transport service reaching further-afield locations made for near-empty buses yesterday.
Heavy rain may have foiled the plans for shoppers destined for Whangārei Central because both buses arrived all but empty on their first day of servicing the Hikurangi and Whangārei Heads areas despite being free of charge for the day.
Northland Regional Council is conducting a one-year public transport trial with Ritchies Transport servicing Hikurangi and Whangārei Heads to help those residents access town.
While the Whangārei Heads link carried no passengers, the Hikurangi bus arrived at Rose St with five, albeit a tad late, having had to send a replacement bus to State Highway 1 due to issues with a windscreen wiper in blustery conditions.
The Hikurangi run had five passengers on its debut yesterday morning. Photo / Tania Whyte
Apart from this hiccup, the Whangārei Heads link ran smoothly, said Ritchies Transport operations supervisor Amy Lane.
"I think [the lack of passengers] was just the weather. I hope the service picks up when people know about it," she said.
"There's been a bit of a call for it and it's going to be a good thing closer to Christmas when people need to access town to do their Christmas shopping."
Northland Regional Council chairwoman Penny Smart was urging residents of those areas to support the service for its continuation.
"It's early days and we certainly hope that people do use it. It's certainly a service that has been asked for."
Both trials involve 25-seater Ritchies buses operating once a week on a Thursday with a morning and afternoon run. The Hikurangi Link leaves Whangārei's inner city Rose St bus terminal at 9.15am on Thursdays bound for Hikurangi Town Centre arriving at 9.52am and stopping opposite The Miners Rest, before returning to Rose St.
En route from Hikurangi, the bus stops at 509 Kamo Rd and again at 410 Kamo Rd on its return trip to central Whangārei Central arriving at the terminal at 10.25am.
The bus begins the estimated 37-minute return to Hikurangi from the terminal at 1.30pm. Trips will cost $3 each way.
Ritchies bus driver Margaret Ututaonga was in good spirits despite the dreary day and lack of passengers. Photo / Tania Whyte
Meanwhile, the Whangārei Heads Link makes one trip from the corner of Reotahi and Whangārei Heads Rds to the bus terminal.
The bus departs at 9am on Thursdays, stopping at McLeod Bay playground, Parua Bay, Manganese Point, Tamaterau and Waikaraka for a 40-minute journey to the city. The return trip departs 1.30pm with journeys costing $5 each way.
It was not known at edition time how many passengers used the service in the afternoon.
The trials are expected to cost $30,000-$35,000 each.
Smart said the Northland Regional Council increased the district-wide Targeted Transport Rate for the 2018-2021 financial period for the purpose of trialling passenger transport services in three key areas of the Whangārei district; Hikurangi, Whangārei Heads and Ruakākā/Waipū. While the latter service began last year, the service to the other two areas was delayed due to a lack of people using public transport services with Covid-19.
Meanwhile, there will also be a short Christmas school holiday Beach Bus trial from Rose St bus terminal operating only on December 17, 24 and 31, 2020 and January 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2021. People wanting to travel to Ocean Beach can catch this service at Rose St bus terminal on these days at 11am. The bus returns from Ocean Beach carpark at 2.30pm and the trip will cost $10 per person return.
"We'd really like people to tell us what they think of the service, what might be useful to them and what more we can do with this trial to help us improve it as we go."
The regional council is encouraging feedback to be emailed to buslink@nrc.govt.nz before a formal review in three months' time.
"There's definitely flexibility to make changes before then based on feedback as we need to; that's the point of a trial service.
"As always, the viability of any trial transport service depends on the public supporting it and I'd encourage anyone needing to get to town for shopping or appointments to use the services."
Ahead of the launch Ritchies Transport Northland area manager Tony Manga said he hoped people made use of the service for it to continue but similar services hadn't been supported in the past.
"I think it's a Kiwi thing - we're very independent - us Kiwis just love our cars but we've got to keep trying these things."
