In summer, the service carries up to 600 tourists in three hours to attractions around Auckland. And, with initial council approval going ahead to turn Shed 10 on Queens Wharf into a cruise ship terminal, he says the shelter is even more vital. "It will be a really unprofessional look if people have no seating or shelter," says Mr Gibson.
Jeannette Morrone, an Explorer Bus passenger visiting from Switzerland, agrees that in rain "it would not be nice" to wait in the open.
Explorer Bus wants to put up a portable building, part ticket booth, part pull-out shelter.
It is willing to pay for the structure, which Mr Gibson estimates will cost around $5000, and pay rent to the council for the space used. But he says nobody - from Auckland Council, Auckland Transport or Waterfront Auckland - will give an answer.
He has not had a response from Mayor Len Brown to a letter the company sent in June 2011.
Later that year, Mr Gibson met a council representative, before the Rugby World Cup, proposing a seating and shelter plan. "We were told by Waterfront Auckland to be patient until after the World Cup and then the Queens Wharf gates would be open and all the wooden seating could be easily accessed for our customers. Instead, the gates are shut and the seating seems redundant."
Mr Gibson says if Gate 3 were open, the company could put the shelter inside so it wouldn't obstruct pedestrian traffic.
On the issue of cyclists, Mr Gibson emailed Auckland Transport in June last year, saying, "Signage to the effect of 'Cyclists Give Way to Pedestrians' has become essential. We have witnessed so many close calls of cyclists nearly collecting pedestrians. It is just a matter of time before there is a serious injury and highly likely it will be a tourist."
He believes the company is being discriminated against because it is not a public service. "If it was a Link bus or any other public bus it would have been sorted straight away."
Mr Gibson is adamant the company provides economic benefits to the city.
"We are the biggest mover of free independent travellers to the Auckland attractions, including the council-run ones. We put 16,000 through the Auckland Museum alone in a four-month period last summer - their figures."
Waterfront Auckland chief executive John Dalzell says Explorer Bus has approached them over safety concerns for tour passengers, and the position of the bus stop shelter and seating. "We fully recognise the importance of safety in opening up the central city Auckland waterfront as a vibrant and accessible public space." He says a number of Auckland Council agencies are responsible for the issue.
"Waterfront Auckland, Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development and Auckland Transport are progressing responses and are continuing to update Explorer Bus."
Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan says discussions have been "ongoing". "Auckland Transport is working with a number of parties in identifying possible solutions to the requests made ... around the provision of a specific shelter for the Explorer Bus and signage."
Council spokesperson Lydia Blatch says questions were best responded to by Auckland Transport and Waterfront Auckland not council. None of the organisations could tell The Aucklander when Mr Gibson might get an answer.
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