Bus routes at risk as subsidies go

Auckland public transport officials are struggling to preserve bus services to such critical areas for commuters as Otara, Flatbush, Te Atatu Peninsula, Titirangi and Henderson North.

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority says it is trying to retain various levels of services in all suburbs where bus operator Stagecoach is deregistering unsubsidised routes.

Stagecoach says reduced patronage, such as caused by fewer overseas students and stiffer competition from rail compounded by the recent bus drivers strikes, has made these uneconomic to run without support from public subsidies.

But the transport authority has yet to learn how much extra money its parent organisation, the Auckland Regional Council, and the Government may be prepared to pay to subsidise threatened services on top of budgets already set for this financial year.

It also disclosed yesterday that a commuter ferry service run by Stagecoach subsidiary Fullers from Half Moon Bay to Auckland was on the list earmarked for deregistration by September, unless it could also be subsidised.

Stagecoach has denied a suggestion by council chairman Mike Lee that it may be counting on drawing heavily on "corporate welfare" for services to be supported with income from regional assets intended for infrastructure investment.

The company is already expected to receive about $40.6 million this year in subsidies paid in equal portions from regional rates and the Government, but says this is the price of supporting uneconomic routes for social reasons.

It says it has yet to return a dividend from New Zealand to its British parent, which bought Auckland's previously publicly-owned main bus fleet in the late 1990s for $111 million.

Transport authority chief Alan Thompson says the company's declaration of dozens of services along 12 bus routes as uneconomic could add several millions of dollars to the subsidy bill, depending on which ones end up being spared.

Stagecoach commercial director Ian Turner said routes such as between Otara and Auckland were well-patronised and he would be "totally amazed" if the authority did not see fit to subsidise them.

Services on line

* Bus routes in Otara, Flatbush, Te Atatu Peninsula, Titirangi and the Sturges Rd area of Henderson North.
* Some services in Orakei, Mt Wellington, Otahuhu and Long Bay and Meadowbank.
* The ferry from Half Moon Bay.