Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee - 27 June 2019 Briefing on Wellington Buses by Greater Wellington Regional - Metlink
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Transport and Infrastructure
Select Committee
27 June 2019
Briefing on Wellington Buses by Greater Wellington Regional
Council
EXOF-1805894586-281Contents 1. Summary 1 2. Responses to questions 4 3. Network performance 14 3.1 Introduction 14 3.2 Patronage 14 3.3 Transfers 15 3.4 On-time performance 16 3.5 Reliability 16 3.6 Correct bus used 18 3.7 Customer experience insights 19 4. What’s happened since 6 December 2018 20 4.1 Review of the bus network 20 4.2 Bus priority 21 4.3 Driver numbers 22 4.4 Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 (rest breaks) 23 4.5 Network changes 23 4.6 Timetable changes 24 4.7 Operational changes 24 4.8 Strathmore Park – free Snapper card trial 24 4.9 Bus interchanges 25 4.10 Fleet 25 4.11 Review of PTOM 26 4.12 Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) 26 5. Conclusion 28 6. Appendix 1 29 7. Appendix 2 37 8. Appendix 3 44
1. Summary
Thank you for the opportunity to further update the Committee on progress being
made on the Wellington bus network.
We have stabilised network performance. Overall on time performance (punctuality)
in the network reached 92.5% last month. Our target remains at 95%.
We are ahead of target in three of our seven sub-regions. And very close to target
(within 1%) in two others. Another two are still below target, performing in a range
of 90 to 92.3% punctuality. Both of these are in Wellington City and we acknowledge
are still affecting commuters in that area.
In Wellington City, we know what and where the issues are. We continue to work to
further improve performance.
At our briefing to the Select Committee on Wellington buses on 6 December 2018,
we advised that this year GWRC would undertake a full review of the bus network,
but that ultimately two factors need resolution if we are to provide the level of service
that we aspire to provide for the people of Wellington City – proper bus priority
measures and sufficient driver numbers to meet the on-going demand.
These two factors remain significant challenges and are restraining further
improvement.
We are however pleased to be able to advise positive progress.
We have moved into a period of intense community led reviews of the new bus
network. This work will determine what changes are still needed for the network to
address customer feedback and requests, social benefits and value for money
considerations. This engagement with the community on the network review
commenced last week in Strathmore Park and a comprehensive programme is in place
for engagement over the coming months.
Greater Wellington Regional Council and Wellington City Council have agreed to
work together to co-create a joint programme to deliver bus priority measures.
And Metlink is getting a positive response to the recently launched driver recruitment
campaign.
The shortage of drivers is impacting Wellington commuters every day. This is our
greatest concern and priority focus to resolve. When drivers call in sick, our operators
are finding it very difficult to replace them and maintain services. This leads to
cancelled services, often in the peak morning commute. While not large in absolute
numbers, any cancelled service is not just frustrating to commuters, but can cause
subsequent services to be overcrowded or be too full to pick up all passengers. I
publicly acknowledge the distress this has caused our customers at times.
While significant efforts are going into recruitment, the new requirements of the
Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 to provide for meal and rest breaks will
put additional pressure on resources. Ongoing efforts will be required by all parties
to meet this challenge.
1GWRC, working with Metlink operators, has maintained a sustained and unrelenting
effort to remedy this and other known issues and deliver improved services for
customers. There is still some way to go.
Service reliability continues to be impacted by congestion too.
Congestion is a major obstacle in Wellington City. We have limited and congested
road spaces and, compared to other cities, a lack of dedicated bus priority lanes.
Operator tests show that the congestion in Wellington tends in itself to be
unpredictable. The same bus route at the same time can take widely varying times to
travel from one day to the next. The result is a lack of reliability for our customers.
Wellington has fallen well behind in providing bus infrastructure. This has to be
resolved urgently to restore more reliable levels of service.
One area where there has been a significant improvement is in the allocation of the
correct buses which had been a frustrating issue for Metlink following go-live. Many
of the allocation problems, which affected our customers through capacity issues,
were identified within days of the network going live but were not able to be corrected
until a reschedule by NZ Bus in February this year.
A real positive overall, is that the metrics presented in this report show growing use
of the network, with the majority of that growth coming from within Wellington City.
In May, the growth in the city reached 6.3% p.a. growth year on year.
The growth in patronage is not that surprising. While much of our conversation has
been around the problems experienced with transition to the new network, what has
been delivered is a range of benefits
Many more services – 45% more at weekends
26 suburbs now have more regular off peak services
Connections between bus and rail are much better
Free transfers making travel cheaper and easier
Fare concessions for students and disabled customers
Many brand new buses including double-deckers and electric vehicles
Bike racks on buses
Better facilities and protection from weather at key transfer points
A much better experience for those customers with physical disabilities
Independent satisfaction surveys show overall customer satisfaction in the region and
the city, at 88%. We are aiming to lift this on the back of all the work we are doing.
2As mentioned, the promised review of the bus network has commenced, and it is our
intent that, as far as possible, the review be “owned” by the community. The target is
to complete the review of Wellington City routes by 20 December 2019 and the
remainder of the region by 31 March 2020. The timeline for implementation of
changes arising from the review will depend on the nature of the change and the
resources required. Metlink will only implement changes when they are confident
that the new services can be consistently and reliably delivered.
In the meantime, we continue to work on operational performance improvements.
We are confident that the joint work on bus priority measures will deliver tangible
outcomes that will improve bus service performance. These measures are an early
delivery of the broader transport objectives identified by the Let’s Get Wellington
Moving initiative recently announced by the Minister of Transport, the Mayor of
Wellington and the GWRC Chair. They are critical and very long overdue for
Wellington and the successful operation of our bus network.
In summary, while performance has been stabilised we still have performance
challenges and specific network issues to resolve in Wellington City.
As was noted by a public participant and ardent critic at a recent meeting of our
Sustainable Transport Committee, the network has slowly improved; but people don’t
notice gradual improvements.
We, and our operators, are committed to continue to work to lift the remaining two
sub regions of our bus network to perform to target levels. Gradual improvements
will eventually add up.
32. Responses to questions
1. Please provide details on the number of bus service cancellations for NZ Bus,
Transurban and any other bus operator contracted by the Greater Wellington
Regional Council to provide public transport services for the Wellington
region for the period 15 July 2018 to date. This information is to include:
The date and time of each individual cancellation
The route number with its start and end point
The reasons for the cancellation
If it was a planned or unplanned cancellation
The time such information was made available to the public on the
Metlink phone app, Metlink’s Twitter account and Metlink’s website
Greater Wellington contracts four bus operators to deliver services within the
region – Tranzurban, NZ Bus, Mana and Uzabus.
Appendix 1 provides a daily record of the number of scheduled services, the number
of cancelled services, and the percentage of services cancelled. Appendix 2 lists
the route numbers and provides the start and end points for each route. Detail of
individual cancellations is available in a separate document.
Cancellations for the period of 15 July 2018 to 15 June 2019, including industrial
action, represent 0.98% of the 1,026,715 scheduled services in that
period. Excluding days on which industrial action occurred 0.81% of all services
were cancelled on average. Nineteen percent of all cancellations occurred on the
five days when there was industrial action at NZ Bus.
We do not record the specific reasons for individual incidents of service
cancellation. Most cancellations are due to driver shortages – these have largely
been experienced by NZ Bus and Tranzurban, the two largest operators in
Wellington. It is an issue affecting public transport and similar other industries on
a national basis. Metlink and its operators currently have driver recruitment
programmes underway and aim to see an improvement in driver numbers in the
coming months.
The process for notifying customers of cancellations is detailed in the answer to
question 3.
2. Please provide the number of fines issued and the corresponding dollar
amounts by operator and PTOM unit, dated to the end March 2019
As noted at the December Committee, we consider this information should not be
released in a public session of this Committee. GWRC has consistently not released
the monetary value of performance deductions applied to operators.
In making this decision GWRC considered that it is necessary to withhold this
information as making it available would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the
commercial position of operators and that withholding the monetary value of the
4Performance Deductions is necessary to enable GWRC to conduct commercial
negotiations without prejudice or disadvantage.
In GWRC’s opinion the release of the Performance Deductions could
unreasonably:
1. Prejudice the commercial position of bus operators in relation to one another
2. Prejudice the commercial position of NZ Bus in particular, given that NZ Bus
is in the process of being sold (Infratil, owner of NZ Bus, is a listed company on
the NZ Stock exchange)
3. Prejudice the commercial positon of operators in relation to any current or
future tenders
4. Prejudice the negotiating positon of GWRC in relation to commercial activities
including the future procurement of bus contracts
5. Prejudice or disadvantage GWRC’s ability to conduct negotiations with bus
operators linked to contract variations.
As part of the decision making process not to release the monetary value of the
Performance Deductions applied to operators GWRC has carefully considered
whether the public interest in the requested information outweighs GWRC’s
reasons for withholding the information. At this time (and for the reasons stated)
GWRC does not consider that the public interest outweighs GWRC’s reasons for
withholding this information.
However, GWRC noted in the December committee that we would be willing to
share this information in a closed briefing.
3. What steps are GWRC/Metlink taking to ensure the public receive timely
notifications of bus service cancellations so they can make alternative
arrangements to arrive at work on time, given that some bus service
cancellations are notified after the event or not notified at all?
Providing timely customer notifications has been a major focus for Metlink.
Each of our operators make cancellations in the Metlink real time information
system as soon as possible after the decision is made to cancel a trip. A Metlink
contact centre staff member (on a roster basis) actively monitors the cancellation
page in the real time information system, and creates a service update for the
website and app to notify customers of the cancelled service – this automatically
sends a tweet and email notification to customers who have subscribed to receive
notifications about certain routes. These service update notifications get taken
down again from the website and app at the appropriate time (e.g. not long after
the scheduled end time).
In the case of industrial action, stop work notices and strike action notices enable
us to give customers updates at least 24 hours in advance.
5The system works well. However, late notifications remain a challenge. These
typically occur in early peak when planned drivers are not available at very short
notice (e.g. a driver calls in sick). This can result in a poor customer experience.
Metlink also acknowledges there are times when cancellations resulting from
incidents such as a traffic accident, a weather event or a mechanical breakdown
don’t give sufficient time for customers to make alternative arrangements in
advance of their travel.
Metlink will commence a test of daily radio updates in July.
4. Given the current suboptimal state of the Wellington bus service, what steps
are the GWRC/Metlink taking / have taken to improve the service and what
milestones (with tasks and dates) have the GWRC/Metlink set themselves to
return to an optimal performance level?
The Wellington bus service is not suboptimal.
Overall punctuality and reliability have reached levels on a par with the previous
network. Further improvements are being hampered by accelerating congestion
and driver shortage issues.
Between November 2018 and March 2019 timetable reviews were implemented for
Mana, Tranzurban and Uzabus services in Wellington, Hutt Valley, Porirua, Kapiti
and Wairarapa.
We have provided NZ Bus with draft timetables for their review and are working
with them to finalise timetables for introduction Term 1, 2020 in line with the lead
times they require for rescheduling bus services and consulting with their driver
unions.
Metlink has been working on an ongoing basis with operators to identify and
improve unrealistic repositioning times for buses which lead to late departures of
linked services.
Meal and rest break legislation threatened to place a significant strain on our main
operators Tranzurban and NZ Bus with additional driver resources required to
maintain the current services for customers. Working with the Minister, operators,
unions and regional councils across the country a transitional arrangement has
been put in place to minimise the number of additional drivers and buses required.
However, all bus operators have to work towards achieving full compliance with
the new legislation by May next year. We continue to work with all parties on this
operationally challenging work so our bus operators can develop new systems and
model how they can schedule and roster drivers and determine what additional bus
and driver resources they will require to reach compliance with the legislation.
We have a structured programme of work to continue to address outstanding issues.
This work includes:
6 A bus driver recruitment campaign to assist operators
The campaign aims to recruit 60-80 drivers over the next 3 months
A network review
Community engagement has commenced and the review of Wellington City
routes is scheduled for completion by 20 December 2019 and the remainder of
the region by 31 March 2020
Performance improvement plans
Performance improvement plans are in place with operators where required
Additional operator resourcing
Metlink required that a local operations manager be deployed within one
operator to focus on particular areas of under-performance, mainly relating to
better managing driver shortages, bus matching and better use of technology.
5. When does the GWRC/Metlink believe the Wellington Bus Service will
stabilise?
Punctuality at the first stop of a bus route has stabilised to 92-93% overall and is
ahead of, or close to target, everywhere except Wellington City. Wellington City is
being impacted by traffic congestion and higher than acceptable cancellations due
to driver shortages. While small in number, these have a high impact on customers
and services in particular during the morning peak.
Services operated by Tranzurban and Mana in Wellington had generally stabilised
following timetable changes made in November 2018 and February 2019.
Much longer lead times were required for updates to NZ Bus timetables (18 weeks)
and ongoing driver resources meant that timetable changes from February 2019
did not stabilise NZ Bus services like other operators.
6. There is a widely-held belief that certain bus cancellations coincide with bus
companies providing shuttle services to cruise ships. Please provide evidence
as to the veracity or not of this belief.
Metlink has no evidence that any contracted bus services were cancelled as a result
of one of our operators running cruise ship shuttles.
Metlink’s Operator stated categorically that no contracted services were cancelled
due to cruise ship shuttles.
Metlink officers undertook some visual checks and also analysed RTI and found no
evidence contracted services were cancelled due to cruise ship shuttles.
77. What progress has been made on undertakings given to the Transport and
Infrastructure Select Committee in 2018? Please provide details.
At the conclusion of our briefing to the Select Committee on Wellington buses on
27 September 2018, GWRC’s Chief Executive undertook:
To take responsibility to work with operators to resolve operational issues
To work through all the customer feedback in detail, to assess where design
improvements can be made and
To work to a goal to achieve agreed punctuality KPIs and correct bus size
matching, providing the right capacity for each trip.
The Chief Executive undertook to work hard to achieve noticeable improvements
by Christmas.
In December we reported that overall network performance had improved in
response to committed performance management with our operators and a range
of specific interventions. Key to this were wide ranging adjustments to timetables
and schedules. We also reported that the network had stabilised, but that to fully
meet KPI goals the second phase of schedule changes were needed.
Since December we have continued to work co-operatively with our operators to
make further performance enhancements through schedule changes (section 4.6),
operational changes (section 4.7), addressing on-going customer pain points
(section 3.7) and network design improvements (section 4.5).
On-time performance (punctuality) is at 92.4% year-to-date (section 3.4). For May
2019, Newlands and Tawa (Mana – 96.1%), Kapiti (Uzabus – 98.1%), Wairarapa
(Tranzurban – 95.5%) exceed aspirational punctuality targets. Hutt Valley (almost
all Tranzurban – 94.0%) and Porirua (Tranzurban – 94.5%) are very close to these
levels. Wellington East, West and City (NZ Bus – 89.2%), and Wellington North,
South, Khandallah and Brooklyn (Tranzurban – 92.3%) remain the improvement
challenge.
Ultimately high levels of on-time performance will only be achieved within
Wellington city with proper bus priority measures and its pleasing to be able to
report progress on bus priority in section 4.2 of this report.
One area where there has been significant improvement is in the correct bus size
matching with 98% of services delivered by the correct bus type in May 2019
(section 3.6).
Remaining network design issues will be identified in the network review that has
recently commenced (section 4.1); on-time performance will continue to improve
through operational adjustments and ultimately through bus priority measures; and
reliability will improve as bus driver shortages are eliminated though a sustained
focus on recruitment.
88. In hindsight, would the GWRC have done anything differently?
Yes. Jointly with the NZ Transport Agency we commissioned an independent review
by L.E.K. Consulting Australia Ltd of the Wellington and Hutt Valley bus network
implementation. The full report was published in December 2018.
Recommendations were accepted by Council and are either implemented or being
implemented.
Yes, we would have liked to have done some things differently. We executed PTOM
and related tender requirements, but this left no room to adjust to changing
circumstances.
We would have liked to have the ability to adjust (e.g. timing, budgets etc.) when
new circumstances arose, but the process rendered this impossible.
Our objective of cost neutrality, although a good discipline, forced a “rationing”
of services which – while based on logic – did not serve social goals consistently
well and raised strong reactions by those affected.
We would have liked to achieve better customer and community engagement. While
we can point to a huge engagement effort, this did not achieve consistent deep
engagement by the public.
9. What level of responsibility does the GWRC/Metlink take for the stress and
anxiety the new network is causing bus patrons and their employers?
In our December presentation we again acknowledged the difficulties we had
encountered during the transition and apologised unreservedly to all who have been
affected. We repeat that apology here, noting that while the performance of the
network is still not where we want it to be, large parts of the network are performing
well and meeting customer needs. Improving performance in those parts of the
network not working for customers is now our total focus. The information in this
report demonstrates the effort we continue to make to improve performance for our
customers and for the people of Wellington.
10. How much has the GWRC/Metlink spent on consultants employed to assist
with fixing the Wellington bus network from 15 July 2018 to date, broken
down by consultant?
GWRC has spent $595,330 on consultants employed to assist with improving the
Wellington bus network from 15 July 2018.
Our definition of external consultants includes individual contractors and sole
traders. Of the ten parties that make up the external consultants involved, three are
individual contractors and sole traders. Therefore, in order to protect the privacy
of these consultants we have provided the job titles of these three consultants along
with the cost of their services:
9Employed as/by Job title $ spent
Recruitment agency: Recruitment Consultant (for operator) $33,458
Recruitment together
Recruitment agency: Temporary Administrator (for operator) $22,051
Robert Walters
Recruitment agency: Temporary Administrator (for operator) $3,401
Robert Walters
Ian Wallis Associates Senior public transport planner $56,610
Individual contractor/sole Bus Operations Consultant $95,241
trader
Individual contractor/sole Bus Operations Consultant $82,558
trader
Individual contractor/sole Project advisor $101,200
trader
Barry Watkins associates Network design consultants (x2) $152,060
Vix technology VIX technology consultant $48,750
Total $595,330
11. Other than the nation-wide driver shortage, offered by the GWRC as the
reason for the bus driver shortage in Wellington, what other reasons are
contributing to this shortage of drivers?
The nation-wide shortage of drivers is acknowledged by regional councils across
the country, the Minister of Transport, unions and operators.
At our February Sustainable Transport Committee meeting one of our operators,
NZ Bus, gave an update in relation to the shortage of candidates – outlining a
number of reasons for the shortage which would be common to all operators
nationwide:
Negative perception around the bus driving profession impacting recruitment
campaigns
Historically high employment levels
Competition with freight industry
Competition with other bus operators, tourism, charters and cruise ship
industry
Long lead in times – qualifications dependent:
Candidates with Class 2 licence + ‘P’ need two weeks training
Candidates with Class 1 need eight weeks
10 Stringent P endorsement requirements
Medical, fit and proper person check, overseas police criminal check – 20
days min up to 6 months
Preference to work closer to more affordable housing areas – not Wellington
City
Specific to NZ Bus:
Following union negotiations - making more drivers redundant than they
wanted prior to the 2018 network change.
12. What are the reasons for the dissatisfaction with the hub and spoke system
being operated by GWRC/Metlink and what research was undertaken to
prove such a system was suitable for Wellington?
We have not implemented a “hub and spoke” system.
As reported to the Committee in December, the new Wellington network can best
be described as a connected network. Key characteristics of a connected network
are that it is designed with a reliance on a network of key routes meeting at
connection points, usually hubs. The aim of this design is to maximise the number
of trip choices customers can make, within the resources available to provide the
services needed. This type of network typically allows for a simplification of routes
by removing the need to duplicate services across the network.
Direct trips are generally provided for where demand is high enough between an
origin and destination to justify the cost of running a direct service, such as on the
high-frequency routes and on peak only services.
In contrast, a spoke and hub network is one in which routes are organised as a
series of "spokes" that connect outlying points to a central "hub".
The network design work utilised:
Transport modelling
Expert analysis and advice
Analysis of submissions
Community consultation.
13. Given that the Wellington region does not have the underlying supporting
infrastructure such as an abundance of dedicated bus lanes and multi-lane
roads for a hub and spoke system to work effectively, why did the GWRC
persist on implementing such a system despite public feedback that is was not
a suitable option?
As noted above, GWRC did not implement a hub and spoke network. It is incorrect
to conclude that the “solution” adopted was not in line with public feedback.
11As reported to the Committee in September, initial consultation began in 2009 with
community focus groups and brochure drops and over 3,000 feedback forms were
received. There were also stakeholder meetings with Wellington City Council, bus
operators, bus users and bus drivers.
In 2010-11 there were further community focus groups across Wellington and a bus
network proposal was developed by MR Cagney using internationally recognised
expert Jarrett Walker who has also been involved in the design of bus networks in
locations around the world.
In 2012 84,000 brochures on the network design were distributed, with over 6500
responses, nine public meetings, and 30 information sessions with residents
associations and stakeholders. As a consequence of the feedback, a revised network
proposal was developed. This proposal took on resident group feedback on network
trade-offs where for some areas less frequent direct bus routes were preferred while
other areas gave preference for more frequent regular services to local hubs
suitable to be operated by smaller buses, better suited to local streets, with
timetabled connections where buses would connect with minimal wait and high
quality facilities.
In 2014 a proposal for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) was adopted by the Regional
Transport Committee as well as GWRC, Wellington City Council and the Transport
Agency. The bus network proposal was further developed to incorporate the BRT
corridors and consulted on as part of 2014 Regional Public Transport Plan. Four
public meetings and 23 workshops with residents groups and stakeholders were
held including co-design processes with Churton Park, Khandallah, Ngaio and
Broadmeadows residents. This included surveys to households where residents
gave their preference on their co-designed bus route options.
In 2015 as a result of that consultation revised bus options were adopted for
Churton Park, Khandallah, Ngaio and Broadmeadows. Consultation for new bus
stops began and a school bus service review commenced.
In 2016 the Regional Public Transport Plan was updated to include changes to the
bus services in Churton Park and Khandallah. Consultation commenced with
schools.
There was a huge effort to take on board public feedback and balance this with
financial and other constraints – and other delivery objectives agreed at Council.
14. Does the GWRC find it acceptable that Strathmore residents are now
considering chartering their own bus during morning and afternoon peak
times due to the constant cancellation of peak time services and what is being
done to remedy the situation?
GWRC does not find the service cancellations to Strathmore Park services
acceptable.
We are disappointed that the operator has been unable to deliver the level of service
they committed to delivering in the contract. Following a reschedule and new
timetable in February 2019, these issues were exacerbated, and as a result Metlink
12took the difficult decision to suspend 21 trips across the eastern suburbs, assigning
11 of these trips to other operators (nine to taxi van companies and two to other
bus operators) from 25 February.
We have continued working with NZ Bus on the 15 trips that are regularly cancelled
that cause the greatest pain to Metlink customers including the 7:40am 12e from
Strathmore Park as a top priority.
From 24 June NZ Bus have implemented changes to link buses better and enable
more reliable delivery of services.
In addition to this work we have prioritised Strathmore Park as the first suburb for
our bus network review. We are working with the community to identify ongoing
pain points and to come up with solutions. This is an area we clearly did not get
right.
We note that the proposed Strathmore charter has not eventuated as the Metlink
service has improved, with further improvements to come once driver shortages
have been overcome.
15. Are all bus companies allowed to advertise for drivers on their buses? Please
provide the dates each Bus Company was given permission to do so.
All bus companies have been able to advertise on Metlink buses since launch as
long as they, like any other advertiser, meet our advertising criteria and rates.
In January 2019 Metlink approved Tranzit to take bus back advertising space to
support their driver recruitment campaign.
In March 2019, Metlink approved NZ Bus’s request for its driver recruitment
campaign. In May, Metlink raised the topic of driver recruitment bus back
advertising with Mana and Uzabus but they did not express a desire to pursue this.
In addition to this, Metlink has worked closely with three of our operators to launch
a broader joint recruitment campaign to attract more drivers. The campaign
features real bus drivers and the reasons they took up the profession. The campaign
can be found on radio, online, social media, on-street posters and in print media.
16. When designing the bus network for Wellington, did the GWRC use any
network traffic analysis/simulation programmes to assess the systemic impact
of route changes on the entire network?
Yes. During network development the Wellington Public Transport Model was used
to test network plans that were subsequently revised and reworked as a
consequence of engagement with customers, resident groups and advocates.
133. Network performance
3.1 Introduction
Metlink now has access to more information than ever before relating to the
performance of its public transport network. A comprehensive performance report is
published monthly on the Metlink website https://www.metlink.org.nz/on-our-
way/performance-of-our-network/.
3.2 Patronage
Patronage is measured by passenger boardings and the year-on-year data for the period
July 2018 to May 2019 show an overall growth of 3.9%. The majority of the growth
has come from within Wellington City where boardings have increased by 5.2% year-
on-year and 6.3% for the month of May. We note that an increase in the number of
transfers on the new network has contributed to this increase. Further details on
transfers are provided in section 3.3 below.
By area for May By area - year to date (Jul - May)
May-19 May-18 % Change 2018/19 2017/18 % Change
Wellington 1,834,240 1,725,541 6.3% Wellington 16,747,317 15,919,848 5.2%
Hutt Valley 470,691 436,626 7.8% Hutt Valley 4,275,387 4,131,711 3.5%
Porirua 100,303 111,427 -10.0% Porirua 895,516 1,028,577 -12.9%
Kapiti 67,428 59,325 13.7% Kapiti 567,997 539,673 5.2%
Wairarapa 18,138 18,125 0.1% Wairarapa 155,853 169,204 -7.9%
Total 2,490,800 2,351,044 5.9% Total 22,642,070 21,789,013 3.9%
Bus boardings over a longer period of time are shown below using a 12 month rolling
total. The graph below shows a trend of ongoing patronage growth since July 2013.
The growth in Wellington City patronage is also shown in the graph below which plots
boardings in Wellington City in May since 2012. The graph shows the strong growth
since 2015.
143.3 Transfers
Transfers using the Snapper card account for 5.4% of year-to-date passenger
boardings, with transfers consistently ranging between 5.2% and 5.8%. Metlink is
only able to report in detail on transfer data for all bus services since mid-July 2018
when Snapper was implemented on all Metlink buses. Transfers on the previous
network were approximately 2.5%, but the new network has introduced the universal
benefit of free transfers within 30 minutes.
Earlier analysis of the impacts of transfers on patronage showed that:
Between July and September 2018 recorded journeys declined year-on-year on
Metlink's public transport network. This decline occurred at a time when system
and operator issues were experienced as the new network/contracts were
implemented, and represent a decline in journeys recorded but not necessarily
15taken (i.e. passengers could have been on a journey but may not have been
recorded on that trip)
Between October and December 2018 recorded journeys increased by ~1.2% year
on year on Metlink’s public transport network. This data suggests that from
October 2018 reported patronage levels have recovered.
3.4 On-time performance
On-time performance (punctuality) is measured by recording the bus departure from
origin, leaving between 1 minute early and 5 minutes late. The tables below show
that bus service punctuality in May was 92.5% and is 92.4% year-to-date.
Newlands and Tawa (Mana – 96.1%), Kapiti (Uzabus – 98.1%), Wairarapa
(Tranzurban – 95.5%) exceed aspirational punctuality targets. Hutt Valley (almost all
Tranzurban – 94%) and Porirua (Tranzurban – 94.5%) are very close to these levels.
Wellington East and West and City (NZ Bus – 89.2%), and Wellington North, South,
Khandallah and Brooklyn (Tranzurban – 92.3%) remain the improvement challenge.
Punctuality - year to date (Jul -
Punctuality - current month May)
May-19 2018/19
Wellington City Wellington City
Newlands & Tawa 96.1% Newlands & Tawa 95.9%
East, West & City 89.2% East, West & City 89.6%
North, South, North, South,
92.3% 91.3%
Khandallah & Brooklyn Khandallah & Brooklyn
Hutt Valley 94.0% Hutt Valley 93.8%
Porirua 94.5% Porirua 95.3%
Kapiti 98.1% Kapiti 97.9%
Wairarapa 95.5% Wairarapa 93.1%
Total 92.5% Total 92.4%
3.5 Reliability
Bus reliability is a measure of how many scheduled services were delivered. In May
2019, 97.9% of services were delivered reliably. Service reliability continues to be
impacted by driver shortages mainly for NZ Bus and Tranzurban operations. The
16figure for May was adversely impacted by 350 cancelled NZ Bus services on 21 May
due to a union AGM.
Reliability - current month
May-19
Wellington City
Newlands & Tawa 99.7%
East, West & City 96.7%
North, South,
97.3%
Khandallah & Brooklyn
Hutt Valley 99.0%
Porirua 98.5%
Kapiti 99.6%
Wairarapa 98.9%
Total 97.9%
173.6 Correct bus used
The Metlink bus fleet comprises small, medium, large and double-decker buses and
the contracts specify the size of bus to be used by the operators on individual services.
The aim is to provide an efficient network where the bus size is matched with the
demand.
Incorrect allocation of the correct bus sizes was one of key factor that caused capacity
issues when the new network was launched in July last year. There has been a
significant improvement in bus allocation with 98% of services delivered by the
correct bus type in May 2019. The tables below show that this result is a significant
improvement over the year-to-date figure of 88%. The improvement has been
achieved through timetable and fleet changes made in partnership with the bus
operators.
18Correct bus used - current month Correct bus used - year to date (Jul - May)
May-19 2018/19
Wellington City Wellington City
Newlands & Tawa 99% Newlands & Tawa 98%
East, West & City 99% East, West & City 76%
North, South, Khandallah North, South, Khandallah
95% 91%
& Brooklyn & Brooklyn
Hutt Valley 97% Hutt Valley 93%
Porirua 100% Porirua 99%
Kapiti 100% Kapiti 99%
Wairarapa 100% Wairarapa 97%
Total 98% Total 88%
3.7 Customer experience insights
Metlink carried out its regular customer satisfaction survey in November 2018. In
Wellington City 975 bus users were surveyed. In response to the question “Thinking
about the vehicle you are on now, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with this trip
overall?” 88% responded that they were satisfied or very satisfied. This result was the
same as the result for bus services in the rest of the region and is only 3% lower than
the previous survey result from May 2018 before the network changes.
Over-all bus complaint volumes continue to trend downwards. In August 2018 3700
complaints were received – the number for May 2019 was 1524.
Specific services continue to be susceptible to ongoing driver shortages and variable
operator performance, which are causing frequent service cancellations, late running
and prolonged wait times and capacity issues for customers.
Ongoing pain-points include:
Route 13 AM peak services impacting Northland
AM peak 30x and 31x express services impacting Scorching Bay and Miramar
North. The 31x is also experiencing some late running in the PM peak
An AM peak 12e service
An AM peak 35 service in Hataitai
AM peak 33 and 34 services impacting customers in Chaytor and Glenmore
Streets.
Some progress has been made in recent weeks by working closer with NZ Bus to
target the improvement of some of the worst punctuality related pain-points, such as
the route 31x PM services as outlined in section 4.7 below.
194. What’s happened since 6 December 2018
4.1 Review of the bus network
GWRC and the NZ Transport Agency last year commissioned an independent review
of the implementation of the bus network. The conclusions of this review were
reported in December 2018 and the recommendations are being implemented.
GWRC has commenced the planned review of the Wellington region bus network. In
non-technical terms, the review is intended to answer the following questions:
“If the new network was operating reliably and as intended:
Does it meet the planned objectives?
What issues would still need to be addressed in terms of routes, connections,
frequency and hours of operation?
What changes can be recommended for the network after balancing customer
feedback and requests, social benefits and value for money considerations?”
The scope of the review includes:
Bus routes (the roads and streets they use); frequency of services at different times
of day and days of the week
Infrastructure (stops and shelters) especially at both formal and informal transfer
points; span of operation (operating hours)
Capacity (enough space on buses at busy times) and timetables (including, for
example, serving Wellington Hospital at times which suit shift workers).
The review will be largely focussed on Wellington City given that most of the post-
implementation issues have arisen there, but will also cover the rest of the region at a
later date and in less detail.
It is intended that as far as is possible the review be “owned” by the community, and
the engagement process has been designed with that objective in mind.
The engagement process will be carried out in two stages for each part of Wellington
City (Eastern, Southern, Western and Northern Suburbs – refer to the map in
Attachment 3 to this Report).
Firstly, there will be a number of focus groups and charrettes (large focus groups)
whose participants will be recruited by our independent advisor Research First to
represent a range of customers more typical of the general bus-using population than
would be the case if the participants were self-selected.
Participants will be able to give feedback of particular relevance to their suburb,
demographic or type of public transport use – e.g. a retired person using the bus to get
from Roseneath to the supermarket in Kilbirnie in the middle of the day; a public-
transport dependent person living in Strathmore Park and needing to get to work in
Newtown at the weekend; or a peak-time-only customer commuting from Seatoun to
work in Molesworth Street.
20In addition, there will be four focus groups (one for each part of the city) specifically
to get feedback and input from people with disabilities.
With the agreement of the relevant bus companies and driver unions (where
appropriate), we will also hold a number of focus groups with bus drivers, to
understand from their perspective, how the network operates, what works well, and
how it might be improved, given that drivers have more interaction with customers
than anyone else and have a wealth of knowledge of the journeys their customers make
and what changes or improvements they would like to see.
The focus groups and charrettes, which will begin in the Eastern Suburbs on 18 June
and run until late July, will inform the second stage of the engagement process,
consisting of a number of well-publicised community drop-in sessions that will be
held for two days in each area. These, along with a parallel online virtual drop-in
programme, will ensure that as many people as possible are able to contribute to the
design of their bus network – what works well for them and what improvements could
be made.
Each session will be held for two consecutive days – either a Friday and Saturday or
a Sunday and Monday, and the online virtual drop in will run for 3-4 weeks.
We anticipate holding one public meeting in each of the areas where a community
drop-in session is held. These will be an opportunity to give attendees an early
indication of the nature of the feedback received through the engagement process.
On Tuesday 18 June a pilot focus group was held at Strathmore Park to test the
methodology which will be used subsequently. Participants were asked to suggest
possible changes to the bus network in their area before being asked to comment on
what they liked or didn’t like about a number of pre-prepared options, and to consider
trade-offs they would be prepared to make between various funding and service level
scenarios, from the perspective of both themselves personally and the city as a whole.
The target is to complete the final report on the Eastern Suburbs review by 30
September 2019, with the final report for the remainder of Wellington City by 20
December 2019 and the final consolidated report for the whole region by 31 March
2020.
Implementation timelines for any changes that are adopted following the review will
be determined by the nature of the change and the availability of resources required.
For example, a change that requires a reschedule of driver rosters, additional drivers
or additional vehicles may take some months to implement. In contrast, a change that
can be accommodated with available resources and without a reschedule could be
implemented in a matter of weeks.
Metlink will not implement any changes to the network that cannot be consistently
and reliably delivered, or will have detrimental impacts on the current operations.
4.2 Bus priority
Congestion within Wellington City has a major impact on our ability to deliver on-
time bus services that provide an attractive alternative to the use of private cars. In
December we reported to you that we were working at Chief Executive level to
21implement a joint management and governance approach to provide further bus
priority measures within Wellington City.
It is pleasing to report that councillors from both Wellington City Council and GWRC
have recently agreed to work together to co-create a joint programme to deliver bus
priority measures. The programme will be detailed through development of an Action
Plan over the next three months, which will outline a clear, evidence based and
prioritised programme of work that will result in improved reliability and journey
times along the routes carrying the most people.
Getting our buses moving through the city faster, in dedicated bus lanes and using
limited road space in a smarter way will be good for all Wellingtonians. It will also
enable Metlink to achieve better on-time performance of its bus services and reduce
journey times.
4.3 Driver numbers
(a) Shortages of drivers
Last December we reported to you that Metlink’s ability to deliver a world class bus
service was dependent on having sufficient drivers to meet the on-going demand.
Since that time reliability has been negatively impacted by a shortage of drivers,
particularly at NZ Bus, exacerbated by higher than normal sickness levels. The driver
shortages led to services being cancelled, particularly in Wellington City’s East, West
and City suburbs.
Metlink agreed a set of short term measures to temporarily reduce services to match
NZ Buses current driver availability.
(b) Driving as a career
As the national driver shortage continues, Metlink has developed a campaign to raise
the profile of drivers and build awareness of driving as a career.
The campaign reflects both public sentiment to acknowledge drivers, while
supplementing the driving career attraction campaigns already in market by operators.
This activity will be supported by a comprehensive programme comprising paid
media, collaboration with operators to actively the process of managing leads and
applicants and is fully designed to lift driver recruitment volumes.
The campaign started with a soft launch on 15 June and within just three days resulted
in enquiries from seven prospective candidates.
The campaign will run until late August.
(c) NZ Bus
NZ Bus are also focusing considerable efforts on the recruitment of bus drivers.
It takes approximately three months to train a bus driver. In addition to this, time is
required for the recruitment process. In the short term our customers continue to be
impacted by cancelled trips due to lack of drivers.
22NZ Bus update Metlink weekly on their driver numbers, this includes drivers in their
training school and estimates of when they will be ready to drive in service. Over the
next five weeks we understand an additional nine drivers will be leaving the training
school and available to drive. This will reduce the shortfall of drivers against the
required numbers to operate the timetable to 15.
Recruitment actively continues and these figures are a snapshot at this point in time.
4.4 Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 (rest breaks)
On 6 May 2019, new rest and meal break changes came into force as part of
Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 (ERAA).
As a result of a new land transport rule which provides flexibility on when breaks can
be taken for the next twelve months, there have been no material change to the number
of cancelled services on Metlink contracted public transport services since the
implementation of the new legislation.
The new land transport rule came about as a result of a series of meetings instigated
by the bus industry between the industry, regional and unitary councils, Auckland
Transport, the Minister of Transport, and unions.
Metlink has prepared a framework document for implementation of the ERAA. This
document has been shared with other regional authorities and there is a high level
acceptance that there should be a consistent approach to implementation across the
sector.
The degree of work required by all parties to implement the ERAA should not be
underestimated. The primary relationship is between operators and their drivers (the
employer and employee). In our region Metlink is taking a leading role in working
with all stakeholders recognising the key part we play in the planning of services and
our ability to change these to meet the needs of the ERAA while balancing this against
customer demand.
4.5 Network changes
A number of network changes have been made since our last presentation to the
Committee in response to public feedback.
Route 14 was extended from Hataitai to Kilbirnie on 3 February.
A direct service (the 23z) to and from Wellington Station and Wellington Zoo
commenced as a trial on 3 February 2019, and that trail was extended in May 2019
until such time as the review of the network is completed (see 4.1 above).
Metlink worked with community representatives to agree the best options for
introducing two morning and two afternoon peak time direct services from Vogeltown
to the Central Business District and these services went into operation on 4 February
2019.
Following a request from the community and the outcome of a subsequent targeted
survey with the Hataitai community and bus users, from 9 June the route 14 now
travels via Waipapa Rd when travelling to and from Kilbirnie.
234.6 Timetable changes
A series of timetable adjustments were introduced on 3 February 2019 to improve on-
time performance, reliability and capacity, and to introduce a series of enhancements
that were always planned to occur following the July 2018 network changes.
Further timetable refinements and adjustments were made for the Hutt Valley on 3
March 2019, Porirua on 31 March 2019 and Otaki on 14 April 2019. Such refinements
and adjustments are a normal part of managing the network and will remain an on-
going programme of work.
4.7 Operational changes
Metlink has been working with operators to identify and investigate opportunities for
further service performance packages. The changes will be implemented prior to or as
part of future reschedules needed to move from the interim Employment Relations
Amendment Act 2018 ‘meal and rest break’ arrangement to full compliance.
Changes include:
Adjustments to a number of school bus routes to improve route coverage,
improved consistency of morning and afternoon routes, and better matching of
vehicle size to capacity requirements
Reviewing and adjusting bus sizes on some public bus route trips to ensure that
the right capacity is in place at peak times between Wellington city and suburbs
Addressing the issue of late running Brooklyn routes 17e and 29e from the city
in the afternoon, which then conflicts with routes 17 and 29 causing congestion
and delays at the Brooklyn bus interchange
Identifying options which can be implemented quickly to improve performance
on specific trips significantly affecting customers. For example route 13 7.25AM
and route 31x 5.35PM trips have been changed to different shifts to ensure they
start the trip on time. The general cause to the performance issues with these trips
is the late running of previous trips due to insufficient travel time on previous trip
and/or insufficient repositioning time allocated being between trips
Improved linking of trips at Paraparaumu Station to enable customers to continue
across to Coastlands (without changing buses) on designated inbound trips with
a minimal dwell time at Paraparaumu Station
Improved links between Coastlands and Otaki, retiming of a route 280 trip so
customers can reliably transfer onto the route 290 to Otaki.
4.8 Strathmore Park – free Snapper card trial
150 free Snapper cards (100 adult and 50 child cards) have been made available and
are being distributed to residents in Strathmore Park via four drop in sessions held at
the Strathmore and Raukawa community centres and Kahurangi school commencing
June 7 2019, in a trial to determine whether removing the initial $10 set up cost of
purchasing a Snapper card will encourage the adoption of Snapper payment. Two of
24the four drop-in sessions have been held and approximately half of the cards have
been distributed.
The trial is in response to an observation that low Snapper adoption and the higher
cost of cash payment have been a barrier to accessing bus services and transfers to
Newtown for some people in Strathmore Park. The use of cash has prevented them
from benefiting from lower fares and free transfers that Snapper allows.
Following on from the initial workshops, on-going distribution of the cards to be
managed by community centre staff, with a hand-out resource available covering
information from the workshop.
The trial will run for three months. If a significant number of people adopt and
continue to use the Snapper cards, consideration can be given to distributing free cards
to other communities where cash payment preference is a barrier to fully realising the
benefits of public transport.
4.9 Bus interchanges
In December 2018 we reported the completion of bus interchanges at Brooklyn,
Miramar and Kilbirnie. The Newtown interchange is now complete. Work is
underway on a Kilbirnie median pedestrian barrier fence which is due for completion
towards the end of July. The fence is a safety requirement to discourage people from
crossing the road without using the signalised crossing. Once the fence is complete
work will start of the covered walkway.
Plans are now complete for Karori Stop A and Johnsonville Stop A, with work on
Karori dependent on service providers undertaking service relocation work so that a
pole can be removed from site. Finalisation of the stops at Johnsonville is contingent
on completion of the new library.
Our plans for upgrading shelters at the Courtenay Place interchange with the new
accessible shelters was rejected by WCC officers on the grounds that there was
resistance from some councillors to replacing the existing Athfield shelters. As we
cannot proceed to construct without WCC approval, works at this hub location have
been put on hold indefinitely.
4.10 Fleet
Double decker buses were introduced into service in Wellington City by Mana Coach
Services in February and by NZ Bus in March 2019. Double decker buses will be used
for some Eastbourne services following completion of route clearance works in July
2019.
The seat replacement programme has been completed.
GWRC and NZ Bus have advanced discussions about the potential purchase of
electric buses, however further progress been slowed by the NZ Bus sale process
which is expected to be completed over the coming months. By mid-July
Tranzurban’s 10 electric double decker buses will all be fitted with the charging
pantograph will be fully deployed. The Reef Street charging station is fully
operational.
254.11 Review of PTOM
In May the Minister of Transport announced that the Government will review its
method of contracting out public transport services. GWRC welcomes the review and
will contribute based on its experience in contracting bus and rail services under the
existing regime. GWRC’s Chair has stated that we need more balance in the approach
and to take into account the interests of customers, transport operators and employees,
and ratepayers.
4.12 Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM)
Let’s Get Wellington Moving is a joint initiative between the Government, Wellington
City Council, GWRC and the NZ Transport Agency.
On 16 May 2019 the indicative package for LGWM was announced by the Minister
of Transport, the Mayor and the GWRC Chair. The announcement signalled the
Government’s funding preferences for the region through the National Land Transport
Fund. Central Government has committed to funding 60% of the $3 billion
programme (uninflated) for the indicative package. The key components of the
indicative package are set out in the table below:
Component Description
A walkable Accessibility and amenity improvements, setting safer speeds for
city vehicles, with further walking improvements included in major
components below.
Connected Cycleways on Featherston St, Thorndon Quay, Courtenay place – Dixon
cycleways St, Taranaki St, Willis St, Victoria St, Kent and Cambridge Terraces, and
Bowen St.
Public Dual public transport spine through the central city on the Golden Mile
transport to and Waterfront Quays; rail network improvements; and bus priority on
and through Thorndon Quay and Hutt Rd
the city
Smarter Full integrated ticketing; transition to integrated transport network
transport operating systems; travel demand management measures including
network Mobility as a Service, parking policy improvements and education and
engagement
Rapid transit Provide rapid transit as part of the wider public transport network from the
railway station to Newtown and to the airport. The design and preferred
mode of rapid transit will be determined by the business case.
Unblocking At-grade changes to improve reliable access for all modes; and grade
the Basin separation between north-south movements, east-west movements and
Reserve any rapid transit corridors.
Extra Mt Extra Mt Victoria Tunnel and widening Ruahine St and Wellington Rd to
Victoria improve access for public transport and enable dedicated walking and
Tunnel cycling routes.
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