Public transport use in Whanganui and Horizons region dropping

Around 280,000 fewer trips were taken across the region last year than in 2012. Photo/File

Public bus use in the region has stalled on the highway, with hundreds of thousands fewer trips being taken and numbers falling each year.

New Zealand Transport Agency figures show passenger numbers in the Manawatu-Wanganui region have dropped 280,000 trips annually in the last five years after peaking in 2012.

Last year 1.36 million trips were taken across the region, down 17 per cent from 1.64 million trips taken in 2012.

This equated to around 4500 people taking the bus six times a week (three days, return) all year.

Horizons Regional Council said it wasn't "overly concerned" about declining numbers, and said falling petrol prices since August 2014 encouraged more people to drive. However, numbers were falling from 2013. It also said cheaper car registrations contributed to this.

Bus numbers region-wide were still around 300,000 trips higher in 2016 than in 2007.

Horizons Regional Council transport manager Phillip Hindrup said depsite overall decreases, patronage has increased on some services.

"While we are not overly concerned about patronage numbers, we have amended our investment programme to delay proposed improvements to see if this national trend remains or reverses."

NZTA figures showed $3.1 million was spent on running buses in the region last year, shared between the council and NZTA, down from $3.7m in 2014. Last year more than $1m was spent on public transport infrastructure development.

However Horizons' annual report showed around $5 million was spent on public transport. Around $880,000 of this was spent on Whanganui services. Almost four times as much ($3.27m) was spent to run services in Palmerston North.

Falling public transport use was a nationwide trend. Of the 14 regions measured by NZTA, only five increased their public transport patronage since 2014, including both Auckland and Wellington. Petrol prices were widely pointed to as the reason.

Public transport commentator Matt Lowrie said in smaller cities with little congestion and low parking costs, it's difficult to attract people to use public transport.

"It's primarily used as an option of last resort rather than a choice - only those that can't drive or really don't want to drive," Mr Lowrie said.

"They say frequency is freedom - if you have relatively frequent bus networks and logical routes that don't go all over the place, that would help people use the bus network."

NZ Transport Agency spokesperson Robert Brodnax said many councils were undertaking reviews of their public transport networks to investigate improvements and the service's value for ratepayer and taxpayer money.

He said public transport had significant societal value.

"An important function public transport plays is providing access for those who have limited transport alternatives, for example the young, the elderly, people without access to a vehicle, and those with medical issues or disabilities.

"Many of the services provided by regional councils in smaller/medium sized centres support access for these groups.