Laden buses spell queues

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Waiting up to an hour for a bus into central Auckland is becoming a common bugbear for peaktime commuters as the growth in bus use continues to take transport operators and planners by surprise.

Passengers have complained to the Herald about fully laden buses ignoring them at stops or arriving late.

Bus operators say they are struggling to cope with demand despite having boosted their fleets and introducing larger buses.

The growth in bus trips in Auckland over the last three years has run at about 7 per cent a year, says the Auckland Regional Council.

Its transport committee chair, Catherine Harland, said that four years ago additional passengers were filling up spare seats in the buses. Now operators were unable to retire buses because they needed them as well as additional vehicles.

She hinted that fares could go up because of the expense of buying a bus and paying a driver for just one peak-time trip.

Local councils were trying to help the companies make more trips and keep to timetables by providing priority lanes along congested routes.

But in any case, the regional council had no power to compel operators to meet a minimum standard of service for ordinary commuters at peak times.

The council monitored services only that it had let contracts for - services which were subsidised and, generally, offpeak.

The Howick and Eastern Bus Company said it had added 30 buses to its fleet in three years to meet demand.

Managing director Bill Dalbeth said despite the rash of complaints, he believed operators were keeping a quality level of services, introducing such comforts as airconditioned buses.

Operators say the attraction of faster trips since the introduction of bus priority lanes has contributed to the growth in passengers.

Birkenhead Transport managing director Robert Inwards said priority lanes had cut the trip down Onewa Rd from 30 minutes to eight minutes.

But he said passenger growth was also due to an influx of students from Asia who travelled to classes in central Auckland.

Last April, the company's patronage increased by 26.9 per cent.

"No way could we have predicted that growth," he said.

"We have put extra services on for both peaks in Birkenhead and Glenfield. There is a bus every 10 minutes from Beach Haven."

The company was adding five buses to its fleet this year and was struggling to hire enough drivers.

"I have driven every morning for three weeks to fill in for people who are away."

Russell Turnbull, marketing manager for Stagecoach, said Auckland's growing patronage was the envy of his British counterparts.

Passenger growth at 9 per cent this year was increasing beyond the predictions of the most optimistic transport planners.

The company was responding by increasing its bus fleet from 602 to 650, and it number of drivers from 914 to 985. It was buying $20 million worth of buses this year.

Mr Turnbull blamed traffic congestion for long waits at bus stops. For example, it was taking an hour for a bus to travel from New Lynn to midtown Auckland.

This meant buses were delayed in making their second trips.

He said the company wanted longer priority bus lanes and more of them.

User guide: good shoes and sense of humour

Pauline McCann of Ponsonby takes her own advice (Tip No 4), and sends us a letter to help those intending to take a Stagecoach Link bus around inner-city Auckland:

1. If after 20 to 30 minutes two buses arrive at once, do not get on the one in front. You will wait in this bus for five minutes while the one behind leaves immediately.

2. Do not get on a morning bus that has standing room only - that windscreen can approach very suddenly when the bus is driven like an empty truck, at speed, downhill.

3. Resist the temptation to "moo" loudly when you are herded from one bus to another. Herding usually occurs after a conference between drivers who arrive at a bus stop concurrently.

4. Always carry a pen and paper. You can use this to compose letters to the Herald and Stagecoach while waiting in a bus for a driver who is late for a shift changeover. You may never send your letters but it does help to pass the time.

5. Carry enough money for a taxi fare if you need to be home by a specific time. After giving up waiting for the bus, you can then spend more to get home than it would have cost you to park your car in town for the day.

6. Wear comfortable shoes. There is a certain satisfaction in walking home along the bus route and not sighting a Link bus the whole time.

7. Finally, reassure yourself that it really was worth doubling your mortgage to move closer to the city and use public transport. The hidden health benefits become apparent when you decide to no longer rely on the Link service and walk to work instead!

What do you think?

We want to hear your stories about the city's buses.
Email the Herald News Desk or fax (09) 373 6421.