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Public transport is poorly developed in the Waikato Region, with only 0.9% of trips made by bus in 2013/14. This compares with 2.3% nationally, which itself is amongst the lowest proportions in the world. Waikato, like all other regions, with the exception of Auckland and Wellington, has seen falls in use of public transport since 2012. As the map shows, the coverage is sparse and, even of those services which operate daily, most have only 2 or 3 buses a day in each direction. Only Hamilton urban services and those to Huntly run hourly, or more frequently.
Contents
- History
- Transport Centre
- Bicycle ban
- Wheelchair accessible buses
- Patronage
- Overcrowding
- Education and Health buses
- Funding
- Hamilton Auckland train proposals
- References
Hamilton has 26 bus routes covering most of its urban area. Buses also serve Cambridge, Coromandel, Huntly, Mangakino, Morrinsville, Ngaruawahia, Paeroa, Port Waikato, Pukekohe, Raglan, Taupo, Thames, Te Aroha, Te Awamutu, Te Kauwhata, Tirau, Putaruru and Tokoroa. Tairua Bus serves Whitianga and Ngatea. A summer shuttle runs between Hahei and Cathedral Cove.
The radial routes and most rural services are contracted to GoBus (successor to Buses Ltd - see Hamilton routes below). Pavlovich operate the most frequent services, the Orbiter (serving the edge of the CBD and the main suburban destinations, such as the Hospital, The Base, Chartwell and Waikato University) and the CBD Shuttle.
InterCity and Naked Bus operate long distance services and some regional connections.
The only remaining passenger train is the Northern Explorer.
Ferries remain at Whitianga, Tairua and linking Auckland and Coromandel.
Shuttle buses provide the only public transport to a number of places, including Hamilton Airport and Whangamata.
History
Public transport in Waikato started with ships and boats serving rivers, coastal beaches and ports. Those on the Waikato and Waipa were gradually displaced by the extending North Island Main Trunk railway and its branches. As roads developed, coaches started to link railway stations with other settlements.
From about 1915 service cars replaced coaches, though there were many accounts of poor roads (see External links). By 1924 the service car network was more extensive than the current services. In 1929 the Northern Steamship Co ended its passenger services, which had served ports such as Coromandel, Kawhia, Port Waikato, Raglan, Tairua, Thames and Whangamata. Some services were suspended during World War 2 due to rubber and petrol shortages.
Waikato had only one passenger tram route and that just from 1871 to 1874. In 1906 Hamilton's mayor proposed a tram to link with Frankton Junction, but voters rejected it.
In December 2016, it was reported that Pavlovich Coachlines passengers would receive free rides due to a worker protest.
Transport Centre
Most of Waikato's buses start and end their journeys at the Transport Centre on the corner of Anglesea St and Bryce St. The map of the Centre shows 27 stops in and around it. As well as bus stops and shelters, it has toilets, a cafe, an information counter and a booking office. It opened in 2001 and was designed by Worley Architects. Prior to that the Transport Centre was the name later given to the late 1960s bus station on the other side of Bryce St (now The Warehouse, but once the NZR Road Services depot and bus stops), which was linked by a ramp to the underground station at Hamilton Central. That site and the current centre and neighbouring properties are now included in Development Site 4 in the City's local area plan. In earlier years buses had several terminals, including Frankton Junction and Garden Place.
Bicycle ban
The camber of Bryce St at the exit from the Centre has been a reason for Hamilton being the largest city in the country not to carry bicycles on any of its public transport. The entrance has been modified to avoid buses gouging the tar seal on Bryce St, but there is still little clearance to allow for bike racks. This probably explains why a 2011 policy to "investigate the feasibility of bikes on buses in the Waikato region" is not in the 2015 Plan. Cycle racks will be rolled out to rural routes from April 2017.
Wheelchair accessible buses
In 2014 $4 million spent on 10 low-floor MAN buses made the Hamilton fleet fully wheelchair accessible. A Total Mobility subsidised taxi scheme also operates in Hamilton, Taupo and Tokoroa. Local mobility schemes exist in Huntly, Raglan, Coromandel, Thames, Tairua, Whitianga, Paeroa, Morrinsville, Te Aroha, Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Tokoroa, Putaruru, Tirau, and Te Kuiti.
Patronage
Totals of rural and urban passenger journeys per financial year in Waikato
Sources 1962-76, 1991-95, 1996-2001, 2002-2007, 2008, 2009/10, 2011/12, 2013/14, 2014/15. In the year to March 2016 patronage in Hamilton was down 6.4% to 3,636,214 and declined a further 5.3% in Hamilton, and 4.1% on satellite routes, to February 2017.
Overcrowding
Patronage varies greatly, with all seats taken on the Orbiter at rush hours and over 60% full on the Northern Connector (serving Huntly and The Base), Raglan and Silverdale routes. However, a dozen routes have less than a quarter of seats taken in an average rush hour. Over 1,300 buses were full to capacity in 2015/16, 482 of them on the Orbiter route. This has provoked complaints, particularly concerning the infrequent Raglan bus, which was fully loaded 22 times in 2015/16.
Education and Health buses
In addition to the buses of commercial operators and those supported by Regional Council, there is a large network of buses serving schools and a much smaller one serving hospitals. The first school bus in the country ran in Waikato on 1 April 1924, allowing local schools near Piopio to be closed. Many companies now run school bus services, including GoBus, Cambridge Travel Lines and Murphy. The Ministry of Education has set 1 July 2018 as a date by which it plans to withdraw ten school bus routes, which it considers can be accommodated on public buses.
The health buses are mainly funded by the District Health Board and link Waikato Hospital to most of the regions towns and some outside the region, such as Taumarunui.
From February 2017 University of Waikato is using car parking fees to subsidise student fares by 30% and provide new bus links to Tokoroa, Putaruru, Ngāruawāhia, Huntly, Te Kauwhata, Thames, Piopio, Te Kuiti, Otorohanga, Matamata, Coromandel, Whitianga and Whangamata.
Funding
Under the Public Transport Management Act 2008 (which replaced the Transport Services Licensing Act 1989) regional councils can manage bus and ferry services within their regions. Since 2013 this has been under the Public Transport Operating Model. Just over a third of operating costs come from fares.
A Passenger Transport Rate was first levied in Hamilton in 1994. In 1996 it collected $1.033m, in 1997 $1.077m, in 1998 $1.187m, in 1999 $1.275m, $1.278m in 2001, in 2001 $1.453m, in 2002 $1.519m, in 2005 $3,626m, in 2007 $5.503m, and $6.237m in 2008. By 2003 only 3 (Raglan, Te Awamutu and Thames) of 33 routes ran without subsidy. Fare revenue was $3.606m in 2007 and, after a fare increase, $4.178m in 2008. Contracted services cost $2.199m in 1995, $2.255m in 1996, $2.798m in 1997 ($1.902m bus, $0.285m mobility), $3.042m in 1999, and is estimated at about $20m a year in the 2015-2025 Plan.
A Regional Petrol Tax, levied in Hamilton (0.265 cents a litre in 1996), supported public transport from 1992 to 1996. A plan to reintroduce the tax was dropped in 2009, leading to a fare increase and shelving of improvements planned for increased hours, an Eastern Loop and a Rototuna Dial a Ride. The tax was also levied from 1971 to 1974.
Hamilton-Auckland train proposals
For a short time, in 2000/2001, Hamilton had a commuter train to Auckland, the Waikato Connection, but its $400,000 pa subsidy was not extended. Proposals were floated in 2007 to re-instate the service, but dropped in a 2011 report. An extension from Pukekohe to Tuakau was proposed, but also shelved. In 2016 the Transport Minister said, when starting work on a parallel section of Waikato Expressway costing over $2bn, "it will be some time before it makes its case economically".