Come on Phil, put an end to the bustastrophe

We are now in the ninth month of our new bus system. As ‘‘transport nerd’’ Mike Mellor noted in a recent blog, since the changes, ‘‘GWRC [Greater Wellington Regional Council] has published no data or other objective information that shows any improving trend in bus [or train] performance’’.

I know Mike’s right when I check social media – four peak-hour services from Strathmore cancelled and five peak-hour Karori/Northland buses cancelled at the same time. Metlink received double the number of complaints during February 2019 than in February 2018. Yesterday, Metlink tweeted 27 bus cancellations before 7am.

At least Metlink is tweeting about buses again. For a while it stopped completely. I was reminded of under-fire managers who refuse to come out of their office to deal with reality.

So what’s the cause of the latest bustastrophic incidents? Most blame has been heaped on NZ Bus, which has a critical driver shortage. Tranzit had initial staffing difficulties but is apparently more ‘‘agile’’.

There are claims of a nationwide driver shortage, and even talk of bringing in overseas drivers. This is exactly what a top union official told me would happen when contracts were being tendered two years ago – drive down conditions of good local drivers then import cheaper ones.

The question people are asking is why not just pay drivers more – isn’t that how the market works? Not in this case, it appears.

NZ Bus is in the middle of a sale to an Australian company. Because NZ Bus is so bad at public communication, there is little we can do but speculate about its lack of drivers. Maybe it’s not in its interest to pay drivers more – as the balance sheet won’t look so good to the new buyer? Maybe its contract with GWRC, which we’re not allowed to see, is so badly drawn up that it is cheaper for NZ Bus to pay penalties for cancelled services than to pay a fair wage to attract more drivers?

It’s sad seeing Metlink trying to busplain contractor problems. Apparently, it’s very difficult to attract low-wage drivers to work only a couple of hours during the peak shifts. You don’t say. Who knows what will happen when winter flu breaks out and new regulations kick in requiring drivers to be covered while taking mandatory breaks.

But didn’t NZ Bus have a collective agreement with the union and pay relatively well? True – though it seems things have changed since new contracts were awarded and the conditional sale announced. As anyone who has worked in a toxic environment knows, money is not everything.

But not every problem can be blamed on NZ Bus. A Churton Park commuter on a Tranzurban route tells me about two missed doctor’s appointments because of bus delays. The commuter recalls only a couple of missed buses in the decades that Mana Coach Services ran the route.

A recent 40-minute delay on the route was caused, according to Metlink, by the bus being on ‘‘private non-Metlink business’’. It happened while many cruise ships were in town – when good money can be made doing bus shuttles.

A lot of the blame for the bustastrophe is being aimed at the PTOM (Public Transport Operating Model) that National introduced. And with good reason, though we can’t blame everything on it.

PTOM did not redesign the bus routes; did not force bus hubs to be in operation before they were built; does not require that GWRC delete rules on workers’ conditions from contracts; does not require Tranzit to shut out unions; does not require GWRC and NZ Bus to have appalling communication. Though it does allow all of these.

The current bus contracts will run for quite some time and would be expensive to overturn. Long-suffering commuters need solutions now.

Local National MPs have called for a Crown observer to be appointed to the GWRC. Justin Lester agrees. It’s hardly a radical move. An observer won’t solve the bustastrophe, but could bring some much-needed transparency. They could find out what is going on and report back to the Government and, more importantly, the public.

But Transport Minister Phil Twyford is unconvinced. He thinks it’s a political stunt. ‘‘Greater Wellington Regional Council needs to get their act together. It’s their responsibility,’’ he says.

The trouble is, the GWRC has spent nearly a year trying to fix the problem and has failed miserably. Why don’t our transport ministers force the GWRC, private operators, unions and the city’s MPs to sit down together and see if they can fix some short-term problems?

Parliament strengthened our gun laws in six days. The whole country was greatly impressed with the almost complete bipartisan approach. Come on Phil, put party politics aside and do the same thing with Wellington’s appalling bus service.

The question people are asking is why not just pay drivers more – isn’t that how the market works? Not in this case, it appears.