Auckland Transport blames planners

Mark Ford. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Disagreement broke out at Auckland Transport's board table yesterday over a bid to distance the agency from blame for the public transport meltdown on Rugby World Cup opening day.

Chairman Mark Ford told the council organisation's managers it was a pity they were put under so much pressure and did not receive enough credit for their efforts throughout the six-week tournament.

"You worked extraordinarily hard," he said.

"I am sick and tired of reading about transport failures on opening night - you guys delivered a great event for Auckland."

Mr Ford reminded the board meeting that lawyer Chris Moore, whom Auckland Transport commissioned to investigate how public transport buckled under an unpredicted weight of numbers, found the failures were of event planning, rather than of the transport system.

That was a reference to tournament planners who failed to forecast how many people would descend on the waterfront on September 9, before estimating that the crowd was about 200,000 strong.

"I don't think you need to take the blame for that," Mr Ford said.

"You did the best you could based on the forecasts given to you."

Board member Mike Lee, who chairs Auckland Council's transport committee, said he did not think "we should brush under the carpet what happened on September 9".

"It was a major failure and we learned from it," he said, after also thanking staff for their success in making transport for the rest of the tournament a success, when large numbers of buses were put on stand-by to take pressure off trains.

He said part of the popularity of the 4.5km Fan Trail walking route was that many match ticket-holders no longer trusted the trains to get them to Eden Park on time.

"If you've spent $600 on a ticket you would prefer to take a precautionary approach - by Shanks's Pony."

Mr Ford had earlier described the trail's popularity as "the most bizarre phenomenon" given an estimate by organisers that 41,000 people walked it before the final on Sunday, including many who did not even have match tickets.

But he wanted it put on record that he did not agree with Mr Lee's comments.

"Auckland didn't do well on September 9, I accept that, but I think there was a nimbleness of organisation on that day and I do credit them [the transport staff] for delivering throughout the [tournament] period."

He and other board members - including Mr Lee - paid special tribute to chief operating officer Fergus Gammie, who is leaving his job tomorrow to take up a new role as a deputy director general transport for New South Wales.

"The hours you and your team put into delivering outcomes for the Rugby World Cup went way beyond what was expected of you," Mr Ford said.

Mr Gammie, who was chief executive of the former Auckland Regional Transport Authority and whose position has yet to be filled, said it was pleasing that 16,000 people returned by rail on Sunday night out of 28,000 carried by public transport.

He said his staff had worked through the tournament to restore people's confidence in public transport.

Auckland Transport has meanwhile reported an 18.7 per cent increase in public transport patronage last month, from a year ago, to 6.6 million passenger trips.

That included a 32 per cent rise in rail patronage, to a new monthly record of almost 1.18 million trips.

AROUND TOWN
* Public transport patronage for September - 6,634,342 passenger trips (18.7 per cent up on September 2010).
* Rail patronage - 1,178,586 trips (32 per cent increase).
* Number of public transport trips to or from Rugby World Cup matches (six-week period) - 550,000.