Chapter / Clause / Subclause – General 22 submitters - Waikato ...

Submission summary
That WRC develops a longer term network model which can respond to the
changing road network required by the staged completion of the Waikato
Expressway and the planned growth in Hamilton city, and Taupo, Waipa and
Waikato districts.
Decision
Chapter / Clause / Subclause – 6 Key focus areas / 6.2 Service optimisation
6 submitters
Submission summary
Submitter: 29 Sloper, Skye
Matter: PTP11-29.2
Summary: With government cutting $17 million out of the public transport
funding for 2011-12 and their focus on efficiency, WRC needs to become much
more efficient with the bus services. I often see buses around my Glenview area,
travelling empty at certain times of day. These services could be changed to
travel certain parts of routes at peak times and one or two other times during the
day. These buses would then be freed up to service rural towns that are not
presently serviced at all. Bus times need to be varied around town and go across
town especially going to the University, Chartwell, the Base and Waikato
Hospital.
At present buses are spending 30% for the time at the Transport Centre. This is
not an efficient way to run public transport.
Decision
Comments noted.
Waikato Regional Council is presently changing the way services are timetabled
to ensure that Council is providing maximum benefit to the communities that
services travel through.
On the 1 st August 2011 the Glenview and Mahoe times were changed to an offset
timetable style which means that instead of services leaving the transport
centre at the same time they are spread by approximately 15 minutes. This
assists with congestion around the CBD streets while providing more frequent trip
opportunities to the Hospital.
The timetables have also been amended to be more user friendly by providing
timing points on route so users have more information on when a bus will arrive
at each stop. These sorts of improvements will be rolled out across the city. In
February 2012 all services travelling via Lynden Court (other than the Orbiter) will
have the new timetable format and off-set times whenever possible.
Under current contracts it is not possible to use Hamilton Urban buses on rural
town services.
Actions A3 and A4 of the WRPTP allow for regular monitoring and review of
services to be carried out to ensure that services are meeting the demand and
service performance thresholds. This will enable redeployment of services and
service adjustments to be made where appropriate and help to achieve a more
efficient and cost effective service network.
With regard to the comment around buses running empty, bus services are run
across the city and are planned to meet both peak demand, mostly at commuting
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