Auckland bus users are still facing more than 1,500 service cancellations daily as the struggle to attract and retain drivers continues.  

The Public Transport Users Association fears the cancellations are pushing users back into private cars.  

Auckland Transport operates just under 12,000 bus services a day and is cancelling about 1,800 each weekday – about 12 to 14 per cent, Manager Metro Optimisation Richard Harrison said.  

The organisation is 470 drivers short, about 20 per cent of the number needed to run full services.  

It is a figure that has increased since the end of July when Auckland Transport said it was about 270 drivers short.  

“It did increase over the last month, it’s been increasing since we came out of lockdown, sadly going up since March – April, [so] cancellations have been steadily going up since then,” Harrison said. 

Auckland bus drivers have received two pay increases in that time.  

In early September, Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency approved additional funding for Auckland Transport to increase pay by 3.9 per cent, on top of the 8 per cent increase funded by Auckland Council in late July.  

It brought the average bus driver wage to $26.62 an hour 

But it is too early to know if that has made a difference, Harrison said.  

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AT expects the pay rises will help attract and retain people and has been using it in advertising.  

While Harrison cannot say how much longer Aucklanders will face these many cancellations, a bus user himself, he acknowledges the frustration.  

“It’s a big job to recruit 500 people into the industry, it’s going to take us a while to do,” he said.  

Public Transport Users Association National Coordinator Jon Reeves points out that while 12 per cent may not sound like a large number, a lot of individuals are impacted.  

“That’s a lot of passengers who may be giving up on public transport, or are giving up on public transport and moving into private vehicles.” 

Mask mandate removal sees Auckland patronage boost  

Despite frequent cancellations, Auckland Transport reports patronage has increased since the requirement to wear a face mask on public transport was dropped.  

Patronage increased to about 70 per cent of 2019 figures following the removal, up from just over 60 per cent, Harrison said.  

But it is a different story in other metropolitan cities.  

An Environment Canterbury spokesperson said their data shows a three per cent improvement in patronage from the two weeks before removal of the mask requirement, compared to the two weeks following it.  

But it is a very short period and difficult to directly attribute the increase to a change in mask requirements alone, they said.  

The spokesperson said the promotion of tertiary concessions and changes to SuperGold access are also influencing travel behaviours.  

Wellington’s Metlink General Manager Samantha Gain said two weeks after the change, they saw a three per cent increase in patronage compared to the same period last year.  

“We don’t think this rise can be solely attributed to the removal of face masks as it’s likely both the government’s half price fares initiative and increasing numbers of people returning to workplaces will also be relevant factors for this increase.”