ARC unlikely to get aboard free cup bus

By Mathew Dearnaley

Auckland City ratepayers will help to bankroll a free inner-city bus service for the America's Cup - but the regional transport kitty may be off limits.

The Auckland Regional Council - the regional public transport administrator - has agreed to put out a tender for bus companies to run an inner-city loop between Queen St and the American Express NZ Cup Village.

But it has stopped short of agreeing to a request for $78,000 from the Heart of the City business organisation. Members of the ARC transport committee say the Auckland City Council should finance the service, not the region.

A free service, with buses running every 10 minutes to link inner-city car parks and businesses with the village, would cost up to $145,000. It is planned for October to March, partly to overcome a shortage of parking near the cup village.

Auckland City councillors have pledged $67,000. This includes up to $29,500 for additional bus stops and a reallocation of $37,500 of millennium arts funding for the service itself.

Despite the regional politicians' hesitation, Kay McKelvie, chairwoman of the city finance committee, said her council should get on with it and support what she believed would be a good use of public money.

"It lets the community know we are giving something back to them and we can put our name on it and take some credit for it, rather than wait for the ARC."

A spokesman for Heart of the City, Alex Swney, said the bus service would be part of a $2 million drive to open the cup village to Aucklanders and bring tourists into the central business district.

His association was contributing $500,000.

A North Shore ARC member, Ruth Norman, said the bus would not help businesses in her constituency and should be financed by Auckland City.