Council bus chief sent to study the southern way

Auckland's top regional transport politician is being dispatched to the South Island for tips on running a decent bus service.

The Auckland Regional Council's transport policy committee has authorised bus investigation trips to both Christchurch and Invercargill for its chairman, Joel Cayford.

Dr Cayford, who also chairs the wider Auckland Regional Land Transport Committee, appeared hesitant when the idea was proposed last week during a debate on whether the council should consider setting up a bus operation of its own.

"Are there any buses on Stewart Island?" he asked, as Invercargill was added to a suggestion by regional council chairman Mike Lee that Dr Cayford investigate the Christchurch City Council-owned Red Bus Company.

Committee member Robyn Hughes said he should keep heading south and also look at Invercargill's bus company, which receives council and Government subsidies to run free weekday services between 9am and 2.30pm.

But Dr Cayford seemed heartened later by advice from the Herald that Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt, who is recovering from a car accident, would offer a warm welcome.

Mr Shadbolt, speaking from his home after being discharged from hospital 10 days ago, resisted the temptation to gloat over Auckland's transport crisis.

"I have to carry some responsibility because I was on the [former] Auckland Regional Authority for six years," he said.

He recalled his frustration at the failure of the old authority's efforts in the 1980s to entice Aucklanders into car-pooling to improve an average vehicle occupancy rate of 1.2 people, a statistic which continues to defy anti-congestion messages.

"I think it's a great idea," he said of Dr Cayford's visit.

Invercargill City Council traffic management officer Eddie Cook said annual bus patronage had almost doubled to close to 500,000 passenger trips a year since free inter-peak services were introduced in 1999.

The mayor said Invercargill ratepayers were happy to support the free services and businesses were pleased about the extra custom these brought to their shops.

Dr Cayford said there was no deadline for his visit, and dates had yet to be arranged.

But he said there was much Auckland could learn from other cities, and he cited a recent trip to Wellington by himself and several other regional council members to examine the capital's superior passenger rail system.

Mr Lee set the scene for the South Island foray after querying a staff report citing an estimate by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority that it could cost 20 per cent to 40 per cent more to run a council-owned bus operation than to leave it to the private sector.

The report cited a decline in financial performance by the Christchurch bus fleet and said a less complex and costly option for Auckland would be to improve efficiency and competition in the market by tightening public transport contracts after a review of legislation.

But Mr Lee, who has long questioned whether ratepayers and taxpayers are getting value for money for bus subsidies including $40.6 million going to Stagecoach this year, said the report should also have examined customer service offered by the Christchurch operation.

He bemoaned the fact that the Auckland region had been forced by the Government to sell its publicly owned bus fleet in the 1990s, while Christchurch had faced no such pressure, and said his council should investigate setting up a "niche" operation.

Such a unit could fill gaps left by commercial operators who were now free to stop services they deemed unprofitable. That forced the regional council to prop up the services at short notice with unbudgeted subsidies rather than leave residents without public transport.