Most Wellington City and Porirua buses have been running on a Saturday timetable in January. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION:
It’s a commuter cliche - you wait for a bus then two turn up - but that’s what’s happening in Wellington as the latest fix for failing services.
It appears Metlink thought it could squeeze in a breather from the national bus driver shortage plaguing the city. That was a mistake.
It decided to run most Wellington City and Porirua buses on a Saturday timetable for all of January, which is a 20 per cent reduction in services.
The intention came from a good place- Metlink was trying to allow for holiday leave and make time for vital recruitment and training during a time when patronage is generally low.
It turned out to be a disaster. Less frequent services have resulted in full buses driving straight past large crowds of commuters waiting at bus stops.
It has got so bad that Metlink has now decided to urgently reintroduce more buses to the network earlier than planned.
Charter buses are being used for the job, which means they may not have Metlink branding and the route number with the destination is displayed on a piece of paper in the front window.
They have been deployed to the worst-hit routes and yesterday were following around existing buses to double their capacity.
The capital still has to suffer through another week of the Saturday timetable with these charter buses.
Demand will only increase next week when even more people return to work after Wellington Anniversary weekend.
If you thought the 2018 bustastrophe was bad, think again. This year is shaping up to be the year from hell for commuters in the capital.
A return to the “normal” weekday timetable on January 30 is still a timetable that has had some 200 services temporarily axed to help alleviate the national driver shortage (as of December Wellington was 125 drivers short).
There is hope on the horizon after Wellington operator NZ Bus confirmed 100 overseas bus driver candidates have accepted offers of employment.
Eight new drivers with visas have arrived in the country this week and should be on the road within two months. A further 29 overseas driver candidates are awaiting visa approval.
This is a big development, but one that will take months for commuters to benefit from. So buckle up because it’s going to be awful for some time yet.
Greater Wellington Regional Council Transport Committee chairman councillor Thomas Nash has done the right thing by apologising, acknowledging the service is inadequate and saying the council is responding.
But it’s extraordinary the network was even allowed to get into this state. Surely Metlink should have been able to foresee the Saturday timetable was not going to work for the whole of January.
I’m currently working remotely from Napier and watching the commuter carnage unfold from afar - the thought of trying to catch the bus to the office in Wellington next week fills me with dread.
The gifts range from a used hair removal tool to a banana duct-taped to a wall.