Auckland Council to prioritise communication with commuters over delays, cancellations

Last year, Auckland Council had to try and address public transport issues throughout the city, dealing with the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and an overworked and understaffed workforce. Photo / Jason Oxenham

By Finn Blackwell of RNZ

Auckland Council’s Transport Committee chair says his priority this year will be ensuring commuters get clear communications if city services are delayed or cancelled.

John Watson said without this, or the necessary substitutes to make up for it, people would continue to be pushed back into their cars rather than making use of the city’s public transport system.

“People have got all variety of apps these days for monitoring what’s going on, and the one consistent thing you hear from commuters is ‘we just want to know what’s happening, and we want to know with a reasonable lead-in time’”.

Last year, Auckland Council had to try and address public transport issues throughout the city, dealing with the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and an overworked and understaffed workforce.

Despite public transport shortfalls and disruptions, council had managed to address a number of city’s issues, Watson said.

Council was looking for immediacy, to make the most of existing infrastructure and to provide practical links for options that otherwise might not be there, he said.

“There’s a lot to be said for making what exists already work better, there needs to be a lot more leveraging of our existing infrastructure,” he said.

Projects like the City Rail Link and Ports of Auckland development are looking to continue throughout 2023.

Meanwhile, solutions to what Mayor Wayne Brown calls a “public transport crisis” continue to be rolled out across the city.

Brown has announced that this year he would begin work to return and develop council land used by the Ports of Auckland for public use.

- RNZ