On the (Regional) buses
A Waipā district councillor finally got the bus figures he has been asking for in more than a year, but the answer was not what he expected.
The EV double decker bus on Waipa regional services. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Roger Gordon told Waikato Regional Council’s Future Proof Public Transport subcommittee last week he had tried unsuccessfully to drill down into the numbers catching buses from Cambridge and Te Awamutu to Hamilton.
Roger Gordon
He had asked Waipā staff to source the information, but they had not done so. Instead, he asked the regional council’s Public Transport manager Trudi Knight for the figures which she did last week.
“The thing that really hits me is that 25 per cent and 22 per cent (of bus patronage) is actually within Hamilton,” he said.
“That’s really surprising to me. We as a council have got some work to do to understand that.”
Passenger numbers rose 33 per cent to 118,303 in Cambridge last year and 28 per cent to 127,182 in Te Awamutu-Kihikihi.
Finding out that a quarter of those passengers were within Hamilton city was an eye opener, Gordon told The News.
“I will be sharing this with my fellow elected members and a lot of questions will be coming out of this.”
Passengers get on the Cambridge regional bus opposite Hamilton Police Station. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Public Transport team leader Vincent Kuo told the subcommittee his staff regularly supply data to each of the territorial authorities, including Waipā.
Gordon said elected members needed to understand the dimensions and profiles associated with public transport, and that was why he had asked for a breakdown of journeys within Cambridge and Te Awamutu and in Hamilton.
Liz Stolwyk
Waipā deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk, who was also at the meeting, said while patronage was up 38 per cent between the two towns, she also wanted to understand the issues given the district’s high growth.
She was disappointed to hear evening patronage was still low.
“We fought hard to get those extra services,” she said.
Regional council staff have prepared a paper on funding Real Time Passenger Information Displays for $300,000 on the urban public transport network.
Stolwyk assumed that meant Hamilton.
The report was Hamilton-centric, said a staffer, but the council could look at an opportunity for Waipā when it went out to tender.
The regional bus travels between Te Awamutu through lush rural land to Hamilton. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
