Auckland public transport use still lagging behind pre-Covid levels

Double decker bus in Auckland. Photo / 123RF

By RNZ

Auckland commuters have been slow to return to public transport with many still working from home at least part of the week, and a service that is still too hit and miss for many workers.

Auckland Transport records show close to 2000 trips are cancelled each day due to driver shortages and sickness - almost 15 per cent of total trips by bus, train and ferry.

Even with half-price fares on offer, the number of people taking public transport is still lagging pre-Covid times by about 30 per cent.

Public transport advocate Matt Lowrie edits the blog Greater Auckland and said cancellations make it harder to attract people back onto trains, buses and ferries.

"Cancellations of services have been absolutely devastating for public transport usage because it makes it unreliable then people get put off from trying public transport because if you've been left on the side of a road waiting for a bus to come in the rain and cold it doesn't leave a great experience."

But that's only half the story - other big cities around the world including London and Barcelona are still recording public transport use stagnating at about 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

In Auckland, it has inched close to 70 per cent for the first time since last year.

"There is going to be a period of reduction of public transport use for probably a few years as a result of things like work from home. Auckland Transport had targeted, very specifically, commuters particularly in the city centre prior to Covid. That has been one reason Auckland has been more impacted than other cities."

Auckland Transport oversees the city's public transport network.

Head of public transport optimisation Richard Harrison said they were still 20 per cent short of drivers on bus and ferry services.

Despite that, he said there were signs of improvement - this month the number of passenger boardings tipped over 1.3 million a week, the most since August last year.

"Our major competition is working from home," Harrison said.

"We see a lot of people are just simply not travelling as much and the public transport network in Auckland is largely around commuters and we don't have as many people commuting, it's that simple."

Auckland's public transport network was geared towards commuters and Harrison said that needed to change.

"We're keen to see people using the services more throughout the whole day not just those peak travel hours. We have got good coverage and good frequency into the evenings so people ought to be able to use public transport for leisure purposes as well."

Lowrie agreed and said services outside peak times needed to be reliable and frequent to encourage more patronage.

"One of the challenges is going to be to get people to use PT [public transport] for a wider range of trips," he said.

"There is a big opportunity to get people using PT for a wider variety of trips. One of the things we're seeing, even within Auckland, the recovery on weekends has been slightly stronger than it has been during weekdays."