Carpool rather than using bus
Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead clarifies some misconceptions about the peninsula bus service.
OTAGO Peninsula parents appear to have given up on the Otago Regional Council bus service and started carpooling their children to school.
Broad Bay parent Jason Graham said only four Tahuna Intermediate pupils, two Bayfield High School pupils and one Otago Girls’ High School pupil used the bus service on the first day of term 2 yesterday.
‘‘Basically, it backs up our survey statistics.
‘‘The survey showed that if no changes were made to the bus route or schedule, very few children would use the service.’’
He said it appeared parents had now given up on the bus service and started a carpooling network to get their children to school.
‘‘There’s about 70 or 80 kids who have got to get to school, and if there’s only a few on the bus, then the rest are going by car.
‘‘The big loser in this is the ORC because they’re not going to get as much revenue.’’
In a letter to the Otago Daily
Times, ORC councillor Michael Deaker said he travelled on the peninsula bus service yesterday, to reassure himself that pupils who lived on the peninsula could use the public transport system safely and conveniently.
‘‘I went out to Macandrew Bay. It took less than a minute to go on the ORC website, tell the Journey Planner that I wanted to get to Tahuna Intermediate, and receive three options set out in detail.
‘‘I chose the option that had me arriving at school at 8.20am. I caught the number 18 bus at Macandrew Bay at 7.42am.
‘‘It was great to see Tahuna Intermediate principal Tony Hunter waiting for the bus at Anderson Bay Rd.
‘‘He wanted to make sure his pupils knew how to make the transfer safely and where the bus shelters were. They did.
‘‘Tony met us when we arrived at school too. As a caring school leader I hope he can now feel confident that his peninsula students are well served by the public transport system.
‘‘I am now reassured that those peninsula boys and girls are able to get to and from the schools of their choice in a safe and timely manner, using the existing public transport services.’’
Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope described the letter as ‘‘just ridiculous’’.
‘‘Honestly, how deep in the sand do those councillors’ heads have to be?
‘‘I’m frustrated by the attitude Michael’s got and with other [ORC] councillors.
‘‘I just don’t think they fully understand what we’re trying to achieve here.’’
Mr Graham and Mr Pope will make a presentation to the Dunedin City Council today, in the hope of explaining the situation to DCC councillors.
It was hoped it would encourage the councillors to support Cr Aaron Hawkins’ resolution, which asks the DCC to acknowledge the concern of the peninsula communities around bus access for pupils; and calls on the ORC to accommodate their request for minor amendments to schedules and routes.
Mr Pope said a petition calling for the minor amendments, signed by more than 900 people, would be presented to the ORC on May 16.
‘‘Hopefully we’ll have an angry mob with burning torches and pitchforks there this time — that’s if they can get the bus to town.’’
IT is my hope that this offers some insight into the Otago Regional Council’s decisionmaking process and highlights the options that are currently available, to ensure children on the peninsula can attend school in a safe and timely manner.
Whether families choose to utilise those services available, is out of our hands.
However, we do very much care about all members of our community. That is why it’s been disappointing to see the stories regarding the peninsula bus service without all the facts being presented.
Running a public bus system is inherently complex. Changes that appear minor can, and often do, have ripple effects that affect other members of the community using the same service. It’s not a onesizefitsall approach. There are always two sides to every rationale.
I recently attended a meeting with school representatives and councillors regarding the peninsula bus service and the Regional Passenger Transport Plan (RPTP). We explained the ORC’s intention to review timetables and implement changes in line with the operational introduction of the bus hub.
We considered this meeting to be productive as it allowed us to explain how the public transport system can and should be used effectively, while giving us insight into the schools’ decision to withdraw the service they contracted for term 4 of 2017 and term 1 of 2018.
Our RPTP aims to simplify route structures and provide a more direct, frequent and consistent service while increasing public transport use by the community.
It has been claimed that changes made in September 2017 have decreased services to the peninsula. This is incorrect. Services have significantly increased from 79 trips each way weekly, to 130. Bus frequency has also increased from 2590 minutes from Portobello, to every 3060 minutes at the same time daily. There are other significant initiatives under way which will enhance the service, including the new bus hub, a new electronic ticketing system and real time information.
These initiatives will improve the efficiency of the network, especially in relation to transfers, between routes. It is our mission to provide an outstanding public transport system to our communities. With patronage across Dunedin up 7% since last year, we feel we are on our way to achieving that.
Unfortunately, it is unrealistic for public transport to provide a door to door service, especially when it’s expected to be heavily subsidised by ratepayers and NZTA. However, making use of our transfers does allow users of the public transport system to get to schools across the city, on time. For example: The
No 18 bus leaves Broad Bay at 7.34am and transfers to No 3 Ocean Grove service at Andersons Bay Rd. There is an up to 13minute transfer wait then a 400m walk from Royal Cres, arriving at Tahuna Intermediate at 8.20am. Using the transfer eliminates the 20minute walk from Andersons Bay Rd. But it appears there is a desire by the community to catch the later 8.04am bus (rather than the 7.34am). The journey planner shows this results in an 8.50am arrival at Tahuna Intermediate using the transfer to the No 3 (and 8.48am walking from Andersons Bay Rd).
Prior to term 4 in 2017, Bayfield, Tahuna, King’s and Queen’s contracted their own bus service for which the ORC provided assistance and funding. The schools used that service at their own cost for term 1 of 2018 but since made the commercial decision to stop due to a lack of patronage. The service required 79 students daily to break even and was not achieving that. When the ORC asked why the service was dropped before the council had undertaken its signalled timetable review, their response was that the numbers of students using the service would further drop significantly in terms 2 and 3 as students undertook extracurricular activities before and after school.
Therefore, the bus service would be even less commercially viable.
In view of this, the route variations proposed would only service a small handful of students. In fact, the current routes and timetables which offer increased frequency and consistency will be of far more benefit to students who will now be starting and finishing over longer and more varied times, which the public service better caters for.
I hope this information provides the community with a better understanding of the services currently offered and the positive changes we will continue to make with our bus service. It has been great to see such passionate engagement around this issue and we encourage all members of the community to continue to use their voices on the issues that affect us all.