12 Sep 2018

Council considers independent review of bus changes

7:44 pm on 12 September 2018

The Greater Wellington Regional council is considering an independent review of its new bus routes and timetables, as commuters continue to complain about the changes.

Commuters at a bus stop in Newtown

Commuters at a bus stop in Newtown Photo: RNZ / Emma Hatton

In July the new system developed by the council was rolled out, and immediately ran into trouble.

This week the chief executive of the council, Greg Campbell, sent out an email giving an update on the network's performance.

It said the council was reshaping teams within the council to figure out what the key things that needed to be fixed were.

Mr Campbell had stepped out of his normal role to oversee any necessary changes to the network, and asked Nigel Corry to step into a three month temporary role as deputy chief executive, to take care of things outside of transport.

"Council will consider undertaking an independent review of the situation, to ensure that all available options have been considered," it read.

Wellington MP Paul Eagle said in order to fix the problem, and win back the faith of Wellingtonians, Mr Campbell would need to get out from behind his desk.

"Senior management need to see what's on the streets of Wellington at peak times during the day. [From] my office in Newtown - I've been strolling down the street talking to people, and one of the things that's really amazed me is how many people are on the bus stops."

The council had started performance reviews with the two bus companies in Wellington, NZ Bus and Tranzit, and would do them two to three times a week.

Mr Eagle said it was crucial the council sorted the problem out as soon as possible.

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