Vaughan Gunson: There are good reasons for considering moving to council-owned and operated bus companies

There are good reasons for considering moving to council-owned and operated bus companies after a recent law change, columnist Vaughan Gunson says. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The timing of the Government's change to the Land Transport Management Act is opportune, with local body elections looming.

Councils will now be able to run public transport services themselves, rather than having to contract private companies (mostly overseas owned).

Candidates seeking election across Northland should have a position on whether they support councils owning and operating bus services or continuing to contract out to private bus companies.

The change, announced by Labour's Transport Minister Michael Wood last week, overturns a system the previous National government had put in place. It effectively stopped councils from owning and running public transport because they would miss out on subsidies from the National Land Transport Fund.

Those in favour of contracting have always argued the private sector is more efficient. That is, it costs ratepayers and taxpayers less.

National and Act are repeating those arguments. As are, unsurprisingly, bus companies.

The claim is highly debatable, however, given a private company is motivated to make a profit for its shareholders. And so any cost to the public in contacting a bus company's services has to include a significant profit margin.

The gains to ratepayers or taxpayers from contracting are therefore marginal at best. And most likely coming at the expense of bus drivers' wages and conditions. Something unions have been arguing for years.

Councils and the Government have no control over how much profit an overseas company makes, or thinks it should make. And therefore, how it runs its business.

This potentially leads to cost-cutting around driver numbers and training, and inadequate investment in green technologies like electric buses.

Alternatively, a council employer should be more accountable to staff wellbeing and better motivated to make emissions-saving investments.

There are good reasons for considering moving to council-owned and operated bus companies.

And that's before we consider whether subsidies going to bus companies in near- monopoly positions should boost returns to overseas shareholders — a flow of public capital out of the country.

So it's worth now asking: would it be better for a range of reasons if councils ran and operated bus services themselves?

Labour has at least given councils, and us as ratepayers and voters, the option.

Because Northland's investment in public transport is small, it would be possible for us to transition to publicly owned and operated bus services relatively easily. Unwinding the control of public transport by multinational companies in Auckland will be much more difficult.

Our councillors up for election should be thinking about the future of public transport.

Ritchies (now American owned) is contracted to provide CityLink bus services in Whangārei until 2027, which means we have a few years to debate the issues and prepare.

Though there's nothing to stop the Northland Regional Council from trialling council-owned buses for additional services in the meantime.

Either regional or district councils could get creative and partner with government institutions and organisations.

For example, what about small on-demand electric buses for getting staff and patient visitors to and from Whangārei Hospital?

This would go a long way to easing traffic flows to that part of town and go somewhere towards solving the parking problem at the hospital.

Our regional and district councils could work with hospital management and health worker unions to develop a bus service that provides benefits to staff and the wider public.

An on-demand bus service, now being trialled in Timaru, allows people to book a bus using a mobile app or phoning a call centre. Smart scheduling technology comes up with routes decided on the day by user demand. It relies on "virtual" and existing bus stops within short walking distances of passengers' homes.

It's a very exciting direction for public transport, one that could also be explored for a bus service in Kerikeri or Kaitaia.

While the expertise might take time to transfer from the private to public sector, running a fleet of buses isn't rocket science. It could be done if there's a will.

This is not just something for the NRC to consider. The other councils have a role in developing an updated growth strategy for public transport in the region.

What do our council candidates think?