You can hear the moans around any water cooler at work. The buses are always late ... unreliable ... and expensive. Kieran Nash grabs a ticket to ride and reports back.
I'm sitting on a bench. Nervous anger threatens to blow my head off. My sweaty hands are clenched claws. I
The cause of this fury? The bus I'm waiting for. It should have been here already but it's so behind schedule it's making me late for work.
I'm not the first Aucklander to feel this way. With more than 43,800 weekly bus trips on more than 450 routes, many thousands brave the commute to work every week. For the most part, they are not happy with the service.
We bus passengers are doing our part to unblock Auckland's congested arterial routes. By jamming into crowded tin cans morning and afternoon, we help to ease Auckland's biggest problem - traffic jams.
But many of these people say the bus system is so flawed it drives people back into their cars each morning. This criticism comes after Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) increased fares last month, a move that has many passengers asking just what value they get for their money.
So I set out to see for myself. I chose four spots north, south, east and west of the city centre, all of them 12-15km away from where I work in Albert St. At each departure point, I caught a bus that would - or should - deliver me to work at 9am in less than an hour's ride.
My first departure point was Mangere Bridge. I'm there at 7.50am to catch the 305 Waka Pacific at 7.59am. Onehunga High School student Bass Bedggood is also there, waiting for his school bus. He's not a fan of the system.
"Most of the time they're late. I reckon it's pretty crap. It's getting dearer and dearer," says the year 12 student.
After our nervous wait, a bus appears over the horizon. Then another. Then another. Then another. My bus, third in a row of four, arrives at 8.15am. Twenty-five minutes and $4.40 later, I arrive in Newmarket. There, after a short wait, I board a 052 Howick & Eastern bus into town for $1.70.
On the ride I talk to Sherie Christophersen, a student at the University of Auckland. Her trip from Pakuranga takes an hour.
"The bus can be kind of unreliable," she says. "I don't think they should have raised prices. They should be making them cheaper and then more people would use them. The bus lanes are a good idea though."
At 9.10 I'm at Britomart and, after a brisk walk, I reach my office. The trip takes 75 minutes and costs $6.10.
Let's take a step back. Most of Auckland's commuter bus companies operate under a contract system, which means ARTA subsidises them.
The NZBus services (Metrolink, Link, Go West, North Star and Waka Pacific) are run this way; so are Howick & Eastern, Birkenhead Transport and Ritchie's.
ARTA sets fares and routes for contract companies and operates the Maxx route information website and phone service, while the contracted companies provide the buses.
The Auckland Regional Council and NZ Transport Agency fund ARTA. So, ratepayers and taxpayers fund the bulk of Auckland's bus system.
However, ARTA has a plan. It's called the Auckland Passenger Transport Network Plan, through which a long-term blueprint for a world-class passenger transport system for Auckland will evolve.
The organisation also recognises the region's public transport inadequacies:
"While the physical coverage of the bus network in the urban areas is very good, most bus routes operate infrequently, with around 75 per cent operating fewer than three buses per hour.
"Around 80 per cent of bus routes also operate for less than 11 hours per day, making them unattractive for trips outside normal working hours or during off-peak," ARTA's own
pamphlet admits.
This can be seen in my next trip. Friday rolls around and I'm on Royal View Rd in Te Atatu South. Although the bus is meant to arrive at this stop at 8.20am, it's late.
Concerned I've missed it, I call the Maxx service. "Welcome to Maxx. You are number 11 in the queue."
When I get through to the operator, all she can tell me is the time the bus was expected to be there.
"We only have timetable information. They're approximate times so they may be a wee bit late because of the traffic. It shouldn't be too far away."
The Maxx website tells me to take two buses to get to the city, so it was a pleasant surprise to catch just the one. The 097 Go West express came at 8.35am and cost $5.50.
As we drive onto the motorway and into the bus-only lane, shooting past queues of stalled traffic, I chat with Janika Khalil-Ali. She got on three stops before me to go to town and is moaning about it being late.
"They're always late. They put the prices up and they can't get anywhere on time. The bus was meant to get to my stop at 8.18 and it got here at 8.30," she says grimly.
"If Auckland had a bus culture, the roads would be clear and the buses wouldn't be late. If more people got out of their cars and drove then the bus system would improve."
I get off the bus just before 9am and reach work at 9.05.
Graeme Easte, a Campaign for Better Transport spokesman and Auckland City councillor, agrees with Ms Kahlil-Ali.
Buses will make more money if more people use them, equalling improved services and more buses, meaning reduced waiting times, he says.
This will attract more people and more money, creating a cycle which will help Auckland towards that nirvana, a world-class public transport system.
Mr Easte says people's main issues with buses are time, frequency and reliability. "If people are getting to work late and having to make excuses to their boss, that's a serious disincentive.
"The main questions which have to be asked are: Is it often enough? Is it reliable enough ? Does it go where I want it to go?."
These issues have come about through transport companies focusing on making profit, rather than on giving a good service: "That's why it's good to have ARTA."
Auckland needs to follow other places. Some European cities have 30-40 per cent of their commuting public using buses. "That's where we should be aiming for the next 30-40 years. You can't set a target that's lunatic. But you need to be aspirational."
One way to do this, he says, is to have more high-speed routes with frequent services, like the Northern Busway.
Let's see if Mr Easte is right. Commuting from the North Shore provides a far more pleasant start to the day. I reach the stop at 8.03am. The 863 North Star picks me up at 8.08am and costs $4.40.
As we hurtle towards the harbour bridge, I speak with Jason Lewthwaite, who works in banking. The ride to town from Campbells Bay takes him about 45 minutes.
"Generally, in the morning, it's good. It's just when they're returning they don't run on time. It's either early and you miss it or it's 15 minutes late. Otherwise, it's pretty good."
The trip has been about 10-15 minutes shorter since the busway was built. "There's a lot of controversy but, let's face it, there's no other way we're going to get to Auckland City. If there were more services then you'd see more people using it."
I arrive at Lower Albert St at 8.30am and at work at 8.37.
ARTA spokeswoman Sharon Hunter says the authority has developed the plans for the network and is now delivering on the Rapid Transport Network, which includes the Northern Busway.
Buses run late mainly because roads are more congested, and the large number of traffic lights and other traffic management measures slow journeys for all vehicles, she says.
"Patronage at this point continues to climb as they improve the network, so we can only conclude that our planning process is heading in the right direction."
Off to Glendowie to find out. I arrive at the stop outside the Churchill Club on Riddell Rd. As bus stops go, it's pleasant, in a nice setting, but it has no shelter. Luckily for me it's not raining.
The 769 Metrolink arrives one minute late (8.13am) and stops at every one of the first 10 stops. It costs $4.40. Duncan Miller sits in front of me. He usually drives to work in the city, and says the bus takes about the same time - 30-35 minutes.
"I find it quite a good service. The bus lanes are very good. They certainly help it. They give the bus some preference. The buses are quite regular in the mornings, but sometimes I find they're quite erratic when they turn up five to 10 minutes late."
Peter Shea lives in Glendowie and has business to conduct in town. He sums up the service nicely: "They're reliably unreliable."
I reach town at 8.43am and get up to work just after 8.50. The service suited me. Too bad I don't live anywhere near Glendowie.
What does the future hold for Auckland's bus system? ARTA says it is working on a simplified network.
"The future network is planned to have more links between suburbs, but the public transport system will never be able to provide for direct journeys between every part of the city and every other part," says Ms Hunter.
There's demand for some routes but there isn't funding for some services, she adds.
In the meantime, I must dash. I'm late for work.
On the buses
We chose four major commuter routes into Britomart on weekday mornings around 8am. Each trip was 12-15km. There was a significant difference in fares. The results:
Mangere Bridge-CBD
Waka Pacific 05 to Newmarket 16min late, 25min trip, $4.40; Howick & Eastern 052 to CBD 10min trip, $1.70. 75min total trip, $6.10.
Royal View Rd, Te Atatu South-CBD
Go West 097 15min late, 23min trip, $5.50.
Shakespeare Rd, Milford-CBD
North Star 863 on time, 22min trip, $4.40
Riddell Rd, Glendowie-CBD
Metrolink 769 1min late, 30min trip, $4.40.
Changing buses
Come November 1, the bus network will be the responsibility of Auckland Transport, the CCO which will absorb all ARTA's current planning and funding responsibilities.
The Regional Land Transport Strategy, the Regional Public Transport Plan and the Passenger Transport Network Plan will all try to improve Auckland's public transport.
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