Unclear as to whether bus changes will deliver improvements

Waikato Regional Council has just signed a new nine-year contract with Go Bus for the Raglan service following a competitive tender process.

Under the new contract, the number of weekday trips between Raglan and Hamilton will increase from four to five, and the existing Saturday timetable will be extended to Sundays and public holidays (excluding Christmas Day).

And although the regional council’s chief financial officer, Mike Garrett, said: “It’s exciting to be providing a cost effective and better service to our passengers and ratepayers”, some Raglanites don’t see the changes will bring improvements.

Bus user John Lawson said, “The changes offer no solution to the Raglan overcrowding problem as the new buses will have slightly fewer seats and more standing room.” John says that the proposed timetable more than doubles seating on the Whatawhata-Hamilton bus. He added, “If that bus were extended to Raglan, it would probably solve the problem, at least in the short term.”

WRC Councillor Jennie Hayman said that Councillor Russ Rimmington is working hard in this matter, and he has spoken very well in support of more action and more budget.

The new buses will have cycle racks, and also coach style seating. They also meet the old Euro 5 emission standard phased in from 2011. So that’s an improvement but it means that they won’t meet the higher Euro 6 standard that was introduced in 2015. The restoration of a Sunday service is a definite plus.

For the extra public bus services that WRC will run between Raglan and Hamilton from April, residents are now getting their chance to influence the final route and timetable.

A survey is online at www.busit.co.nz/raglan, with hard copies available on the bus, at the transport centre in Hamilton, and the Raglan iSITE and library. Unfortunately there are some errors in the survey. On the Raglan bus stop map, the i-SITE is shown where it was prior to 2011 and the main Raglan inward bus stop is not shown at all.

“As well as more bus trips, our passengers will get other benefits too. The new buses will have free Wi-Fi and USB chargers on board, there’ll be exterior bike racks and interior surfboard racks, as well as comprehensive CCTV systems,” Mr Garrett said.

Money to operate the Raglan service comes from a combination of passenger fares, rates funding from Waikato Regional Council and Waikato District Council, and the NZ Transport Agency.

Waikato District Council general manager service delivery, Tim Harty said: “Providing additional bus services to Raglan is an important step in ensuring this part of the Waikato district has better access to employment, education and the increasing demand of visitors to the town. Waikato District Council is proud to be supporting such a service to its community.”

The Transport Agency’s Waikato and Bay of Plenty Regional Director, Parekawhia McLean said: “We are excited to have worked with our partners at the council to bring a new level of service to the Raglan community.

“We would also like to congratulate Go Bus for coming up with a solution for public transport users that not only shows value for money but also gives these communities a high quality transport option.”

Go Bus’s Managing Director, Calum Haslop, said: “Go Bus is delighted to have been awarded the contract to operate buses between Hamilton and Raglan. Having operated this service for a number of years we’ve got to know the community well and our drivers will be especially happy to have the opportunity to continue getting people to and from this iconic Waikato town,” Mr Haslop said.

“We are also pleased to be introducing brand new EURO 5 low emission buses to the route, which are equipped with not only USB charging ports, free Wi-Fi and cycle racks, but also coach style seating and a five camera CCTV system for added passenger safety.”