Changes to Whangarei's bus service from March

Whangarei’s CityLink public bus service is to drop a number of seldom-used trips – mainly in the early morning and evening - as part of a number of changes to be introduced from March.


Northland Regional Transport Committee Chairman John Bain says the changes will take effect from Monday, March 1 and stem from regular reviews designed to ensure the service runs as efficiently as possible, both operationally and financially.


As part of that process the Northland Regional Council (NRC) had reviewed the number of passengers who had travelled on each 39-seater bus since the current 10-strong fleet had begun operating 18 months ago.


“In a nutshell, the changes will remove poorly patronised trips carrying three or fewer passengers at a time and should save about $300,000 annually.”


Councillor Bain says most of those are trips in the early hours of the morning (before 7am) or the evenings (after 6pm).


“From March 1 we will also end Saturday services after about 2pm and will not operate at all on public holidays, again due to poor patronage. Similarly, the Central Business District route – which on average has carried less than one person each trip – will cease altogether.”


Councillor Bain says the current timetable is largely based on previous surveys and public feedback during which members of the community had requested the CBD service (which runs between the CBD and Okara Park) and extra early morning and evening trips to accommodate workers.


However, he says while the NRC is keen to ensure timetables match people’s expectations as much as possible, some of the services introduced as a result of public requests had then turned out to be very poorly patronised.


“We had a marked increase in passenger numbers in 2008 when oil prices rocketed but that then fell off again as prices reduced. However, our responsibility to ensure the bus service – which is jointly funded by ratepayers and the New Zealand Transport Agency – uses money as efficiently as possible does not change.”


Meanwhile, Cr Bain says from March 1 several peak hour trips will also run anywhere from five to 15 minutes earlier than they do now to try to minimise delays caused by peak hour traffic.


“Buses on these routes currently often struggle to keep to the posted timetables during peak hours due to the sheer volume of traffic on the roads. We’re hoping that by leaving a few minutes earlier, we’ll be able to alleviate this problem.”


Councillor Bain says from March the Otangarei-bound buses that currently leave the Rose St bus terminus at 4.15pm, 4.45pm, 5.15pm and 5.45pm on weekdays will all leave five minutes earlier.


Similarly, the bus currently leaving Rose St at 7.25am each weekday bound for Tikipunga and Kamo will from March 1 leave 15 minutes earlier at 7.10am instead.


He says new timetables are currently being compiled and revised times will be advertised shortly. Details will also be available online from early next week at: www.nrc.govt.nz/bus


A full list of the trips to be removed is below:


1. CBD Shuttle:
Removal of all trips Monday to Saturday inclusive


2. Onerahi
Monday to Friday

Remove 6.45pm trip

Saturday

Remove 2.15pm, 3.15pm, 4.15pm, and 5.15pm trips


3. Tikipunga via Kamo
Monday to Friday

Remove 6.00am, 5.45pm, 6.15pm and 6.45pm trips

Saturday

Remove 2.15pm, 4.15pm and 6.15pm trips


3A. Kamo via Tikipunga
Monday to Friday

Remove 6.35 am trip

Saturday

Remove 3.15pm and 5.15pm trips


4. Otangarei
Monday to Friday

Remove 6.00am, 6.30am, 6.15pm and 6.45pm trips

Saturday

Remove 2.40pm, 3.40pm and 4.40pm trips


5. Raumanga/Morningside
Monday to Friday

Remove 6.00am, 6.30am, 6.15pm and 6.45pm trips

Saturday

Remove 2.30pm, 3.30pm and 4.30pm trips


6. Maunu
Monday to Friday

Remove 6.00am, 7.00am, 5.45pm and 6.45pm trips but a new 5.15pm trip will be added

Saturday

Remove 2.00pm. 3.00pm. 4.00pm and 5.00pm trips


Public Holiday Service
Removal of all services on public holidays