Link bus run gets overhaul

Stagecoach will put extra buses on the inner-city Link route on busy days and is to start a full review of the popular bus run after complaints about the service.

The bus company's commercial director, Ian Turner, said Stagecoach decided at its board meeting yesterday to appoint a new manager dedicated solely to the Link service, which is supposed to run a circuit around Parnell, Newmarket, Ponsonby and the CBD every 10 minutes.

The manager would review the service to sort out problems such as buses bunching together rather than keeping a 10-minute distance. The position would start on May 29, Mr Turner said.

"The manager will look at things from top to bottom, talk to everyone from customers and drivers to the council, and make some decisions on how to improve the service."

In the meantime, from next week two extra buses would go on the route on its busiest days - Thursday, Friday and Saturday - in a bid to reduce the problems with irregularity.

The decisions came after regular users told the Herald of waiting for 30 minutes and buses travelling in groups of three.

The Advertising Standards Board ruled that Stagecoach's claim of a bus "every 10 minutes" for its Link service was misleading.

Infratil's Stagecoach director Tim Brown said that after the complaints were published he had told the company to try to fix the problems quickly.

"The number one aggravation is that there is meant to be a bus every 10 minutes, but there isn't. I told [Stagecoach] it was a huge blunder for us to be pissing people off, so what we should do is get somebody to do something about it on Monday.

"Surely it can't be that hard to get drivers to slow down so they don't bunch up with the buses in front."

He said the new GPS system was supposed to tell drivers how far away they were from other buses, but it was not working as intended.

Those who had complained said yesterday that it was good to see Stagecoach acknowledge the problem, but more buses were needed every day.

Jennifer said it was gratifying to have a response.

"I think every Aucklander knows that getting anywhere using roads is difficult and frustrating but hopefully a new manager and a review of the Link service will make public transport more reliable and pleasant - although I have a suspicion there will now be three or four buses turning up at the same time!"

Simon said if they used their current fleet more effectively, new buses would not be needed. Any bus that caught up to the one in front should transfer its passengers to the earlier one then wait 10 minutes.

Many also said the GPS system need to be either ditched or made to work properly.

Mr Brown said if the technology was not working properly, perhaps Stagecoach should look at more creative options.

One option Stagecoach's board considered yesterday was workers on the roadsides with red or green flags timing the buses and indicating to drivers whether they needed to slow down.

"Clearly it is a bit antediluvian, and everyone says there must be better technology," said Mr Brown. "But they stuck technology on the buses and it didn't work."

Mr Turner said they opted not to use the flags, because the workers would be more use driving buses.

ANSWERS ON GRIPES THAT DRIVE PASSENGERS CRAZY

Ian Turner, Stagecoach's commercial director, responds to the most common complaints.

Buses often stop at Victoria Park Market for a random time with no explanation.

Victoria Park is where the drivers change over and where buses wait if they are running ahead of schedule. Drivers have now been told to explain and say how long the wait is expected to be.

Although there are points where buses have to wait to stay on time and a GPS system to tell drivers how far apart they are, they still seem to arrive in clumps of three further down the track. Why and why can't it be fixed?

It's almost always because of traffic snarl ups, typically in Newmarket. One driver said Newmarket was "like entering a canyon and not coming out". If three buses are caught in the same snarl up, by the time the first one gets out there are more passengers waiting. It takes longer to get them on, so the others catch up.

Many customers who have complained said they received a cold welcome, or were told they would hear of the outcome but heard nothing further.

We are supposed to respond to all of them so if people have not had a response, they should follow it up. Complaints are logged and sent to the depot for an investigation. Then a response is sent to the customer. It normally takes a couple of days and the more specific the complaint, the better. It helps to give exact times, places and bus services.

Why do many Asian and European cities manage such circular routes effectively when Auckland can't?

Most cities with circular routes do struggle. There are always trade-offs. Sometimes we do move passengers from one bus to another one so it can short-circuit part of the route to where there's a gap, but passengers don't take kindly to being told to get off one bus and on to another one.