Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown wants commuters to share stories of mass bus cancellations with his office

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown wants answers on mass bus cancellations. Photo / Michael Craig

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is calling on commuters to come forward to his office and share their experiences of mass bus cancellations last night.

Brown today posted on social media that he had been informed by Auckland Transport that last night’s cancellations were the result of a multiple-car crash on SH16, which disrupted all westbound services. However this morning AT said the driver bus shortage - not the crash - was the reason for the cancellations.

Brown’s plea this morning for commuters to come forward followed comments he made last night “seeking answers” after a swarm of cancellations across the entire city’s bus network.

He was responding to North Shore councillor Richard Hills complaining on social media about the “longest lines he’s ever seen” for buses in the CBD.

.@AklTransport has informed me that the mass bus cancellations many of you experienced last night were the result of a multiple car crash on State Highway 16 disrupting all west-bound services. If you have had any similar experiences recently my office would like to hear from you pic.twitter.com/7QLSEncmCQ

— Mayor Wayne Brown (@MayorWayneBrown) May 2, 2023

He begged for more NX1 buses at the Lower Albert stop as he questioned why the cancellations were so “intense”.

“Unsure why the cancellations are so intense, I thought we were starting to get on top of the driver shortage issue,” Hills tweeted.

The longest lines I’ve ever seen @AklTransport please get some more NX1’s to Lower Albert asap. The waits are too long in between cancellations.

Unsure why the cancellations are so intense, I thought we were starting to get on top of the driver shortage issue. https://t.co/68b2uhEzEW

— Richard Hills (@RichardHills_) May 2, 2023

Many people replied to the tweet with their frustrations, complaining other lines were also plagued by long wait times caused by many cancellations.

A mayoral spokesman today said a few people have contacted the office to question the claim that NX services from lower Albert St were affected by the crash on SH16.

“AT has since confirmed that the accident was unrelated, and they are speaking with the operators,” the spokesman said.

This was confirmed today by an AT spokesman, who said the delays were caused by the ongoing bus driver shortage.

In a response to the mayoral office, AT metro service group manager Darek Koper said there was a shortage of about 80 drivers at Albany and Silverdale depots and the cancellations had been high for many weeks with Ritchies and Tranzurban struggling to recruit drivers to work there.

Despite an increase in the drivers required to deliver the post-school holiday schedule, Koper said the shortfall had decreased significantly.

Ritchies and NZ Bus combined added 43 new drivers to the workforce in the last week. This means the net total shortfall was reduced by 30 to 341 – 15 per cent below the full requirement, he said.

RNZ earlier this year reported that on an average weekday in February this year, 1085 Auckland buses listed in timetables failed to show up.

According to critics, the data is evidence of urban bus networks in crisis. On the worst day in Auckland, one in every nine scheduled buses didn’t arrive.

New AT chief executive Dean Kimpton has promised to fix the unpopular transport agency in 18 months, telling the Herald: “My challenge to myself is: how do we make public transport as much loved as libraries?”