At the Raglan community meeting held in early April, chairwoman of the regional council’s transport subcommittee, Paula Southgate promised that the missed passenger and overcrowding safety problems on the Route 23 bus service would be solved in two weeks. But six weeks later, the problems remain.
There have been signs from what was said at the Whatawhata community meeting in late April and at the Raglan Community Board meeting on the 8th May, that work was underway behind the scenes. Waikato District Council say that they are waiting on a firm proposal from the Waikato Regional Council. But nothing definite has emerged as yet. The latest news is the NZ Herald where Paula Southgate is quoted saying that the Waikato Regional Council is looking at cutting back on Raglan’s weekend bus service to fund a possible twice daily Whatawhata to Hamilton bus service. It is understood that the weekend bus service averages about six people in a seventy seat bus. WRC has previously rejected suggestions by Raglan people to use smaller buses on the route at off-peak times to save money.
WDC Mr Smith Quote “Our long-term plan is a 2.4 per cent general rate increase so we can’t afford to keep throwing money at buses for people to get to work,” What? DRAFT LTP & WHAT 2.4% general rate increase? WHAT about public transport & Community consultation Mr Smith. The LTP has a policy of ACCESSIBLE Waikato: Transport inferstructure, including walkways and cycleways is developed at a rate to keep pace with growth and demand. Look at the policy statement and keep up with the pace and growth.
Why should the 5% of households without cars pay around $1000 a year to subsidise cars, but get no benefit from a bus subsidy? Isn’t it equitable that at least 5% of the transport rate goes to buses, rather than the current 1.6%?
The regional plan says 9% of drivers will want to switch to buses if petrol doubles in price. Some forecasts have it going over $5 a litre. If so, that will mean about 15 times the current number of bus passengers and even a small increase is going to double passengers. WDC needs to understand this effect of peak oil and stop spending 45% of the general rate on roads.