ARC plans big school bus boost

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Auckland secondary school students are promised bus services galore next year in a bid to get more cars off the region's roads at peak times.

The Auckland Regional Council will consult schools on plans to boost services almost 70 per cent, although budgetary constraints and finite numbers of buses and drivers mean not all will be able to start next year.

A proposed 224 dedicated "in-zone" bus services will be added to secondary school runs. The council subsidises 324 services at present for children at all levels of education.

The extra buses will allow almost 20,000 students to be carried daily, compared with about 12,500 now.

New services for intermediate schools will start being introduced in 2006, and for primary children some time after that.

Additional services for carrying children to out-of-zone schools will also be considered if these are deemed to contribute to "sustainability" objectives, in terms of reducing congestion from private vehicles.

Some regional council members, particularly those representing West Auckland, are concerned not to encourage too many students to attend distant schools. But planners estimate existing out-of-zone services save more than 4000 car trips a day.

ARC transport director Peter Winder said in a report to the council's passenger transport committee on Tuesday that such services provided more than $1.5 million in annual benefits from reduced congestion and lower environmental degradation.

The committee approved draft service proposals on which the council will consult schools, before inviting tenders in August in time to apply for subsidies from state funding agency Transfund.

That agency pays 40 per cent of the $3.9 million the council spends each year on school buses, and is increasing the level next year to 50 per cent.

That means the expanded services will cost ratepayers half of an overall subsidy increase of $2.5 million for bus companies, who charge schoolchildren 60 per cent of adult fares.

Children can always catch regular urban services at reduced fares, but Mr Winder said research had found school buses were significantly more attractive to parents.

Bus and Coach Association executive director John Collyns acknowledged it would be a big challenge for his members to make enough vehicles and drivers available, but said his organisation fully supported any such campaign to cut Auckland's peak-time congestion.