Waikato bus driver wages rise 20% in bid to improve regional services

Waikato Regional Council chairwoman Pamela Storey said councillors recognised bus drivers as essential workers, providing crucial connections to work, school and other services. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

Go Bus driver wages in Hamilton are set to jump to $28 an hour – an increase of almost 20 per cent – with a funding injection from Waikato Regional Council and support from Go Bus.

In December, regional councillors – in a public-excluded meeting – heard details of the persistent driver shortage which is impacting existing services and is the main barrier to improved urban bus services in the region.

One of the delayed new services is the Meteor bus, which was originally due to launch 12 months ago. Because of the driver shortage, it was rescheduled to start last May but was delayed again, with the council saying a “new launch date will be confirmed in due course”.

The plan is for the Meteor service to link the east and west of Hamilton, and run every 15 minutes in both directions on weekdays, and half-hourly on evenings and weekends.

It would replace the 2 Silverdale and 8 Frankton routes and remove the need to transfer onto another service at the Hamilton Transport Centre to reach the other side of the city. The Meteor would use stops on Bryce Street outside the Transport Centre to ensure an express route through the CBD.

The plan is for the Meteor service to link the east and west of Hamilton, and run every 15 minutes in both directions.

The council says the shortage of drivers is an issue mirrored in cities and towns around New Zealand, with the Government responding with a $61 million budget allocation over the next four years for driver wages, provided public transport authorities and operators contribute to wage increases and continue to adjust rates in the future.

Waikato Regional Council’s decision follows other regions which have also announced significant wage increases over the past six months, including the Bay of Plenty.

Waikato Regional Council chairwoman Pamela Storey said councillors recognised bus drivers as essential workers, providing crucial connections to work, school and services for people of all ages.

Storey said the cost for the 2022/23 financial year will be covered within existing budgets, but over time it will require “more investment from ratepayers”.

“Go Bus operates our services in Hamilton, and from the Waipā and Waikato districts. Moving to catch up with the other regions will enable us to keep our services running,” she said.

“While it does come at a cost, the investment in our bus drivers is the right thing to do, because public transport is a vital part of the solution to the cost of living issues already being experienced by so many of our region’s families,” she said.

Regional transport connections director Mark Tamura said: “Driver shortages were an emerging issue pre-Covid, but [that issue] has been exacerbated due to difficulties attracting and retaining drivers in an environment of limited immigration, significant competition for labour and steep increases in the cost of living.

“Improving the pay competitiveness of bus driving as an occupation removes one of the barriers to delivering improved bus services and patronage associated with more flexible options,” Tamura said.

The driver shortage and Covid-19 have stalled the bus network improvement programme in Waikato which was to introduce one additional, direct and frequent service each year over 10 years to 2031.

It has also resulted in the Hamilton bus network operating to a reduced timetable since February 2022 to improve the reliability of scheduled services.