Poorly used bus services to be cut

By cutting poorly patronised bus trips, the Northland Regional Council aims to save $300,000 a year.

From March, Whangarei's CityLink public bus service is to drop a number of seldom-used trips as part of a number of changes.

Northland Regional Transport Committee chairman John Bain says the changes stem from regular reviews designed to ensure the service runs as efficiently as possible, both operationally and financially.

"From March 1 we will also end Saturday services after about 2pm and will not operate at all on public holidays, again due to poor patronage.

"Similarly, the central business district route - which on average has carried less than one person each trip - will cease altogether."

Meanwhile, Mr Bain says from March 1 several peak hour trips will also run anywhere from five to 15 minutes earlier than they do now to try to minimise delays caused by peak hour traffic.

"Buses on these routes often struggle to keep to the posted timetables during peak hours due to the sheer volume of traffic.

"We're hoping that by leaving a few minutes earlier, we'll be able to alleviate this problem."

Mr Bain says from March the Otangarei-bound buses which currently leave the Rose St bus terminal at 4.15pm, 4.45pm, 5.15pm and 5.45pm on weekdays will all leave five minutes earlier.

Similarly, the bus currently leaving Rose St at 7.25am each weekday bound for Tikipunga and Kamo will from March 1 leave 15 minutes earlier at 7.10am instead.

New timetables are currently being compiled and revised times will be advertised shortly. Details will also be available online shortly at: www.nrc.govt.nz/bus

- © Fairfax NZ News