Who can’t you call? Ghost buses

mystical suburb known as Not In Service?

Overly full buses aren’t the only problem. A couple of weeks ago I had to drop my car off late at night and decided to catch a bus home. According to the electronic billboard, my bus was due in 10 minutes. Twenty-five minutes later, the ‘‘due’’ message was replaced with one saying my next bus was 15 minutes away.

Does Wellington’s new bus technology extend to invisible buses?

Furious, I was left in no doubt why I am one of this city’s growing number of bike commuters, why our streets are clogged with cars – and why bus patronage is dropping.

So what is causing our bus problems? Most companies would see a packed bus as both a service failure and an opportunity for more business.

For example, a theatre knows that if a show is selling out they need to schedule extra performances. Happy punters get to see the show and the theatre makes more money. It’s a win-win situation, but that doesn’t seem to happen with buses.

Perhaps the ownership model – a private company getting subsidies from the public local bodies – means that we get the worst of both private and public worlds?

We live in a city where a lone, admittedly disgusting, racist rant by a bus passenger is major news yet the frequent failure of full or invisible buses seems to hardly raise an eyebrow. What can hapless bus commuters do besides giving up?

Don’t blame the poor driver. A sustained chorus of complaints to private bus companies and the public organisations that help to fund them might be a better solution.

After seeing how much the stadium food and drink service improved for the Cricket World Cup quarterfinal, I believe that if Wellingtonians complain long and loudly enough, minor civic miracles can occasionally occur.