Invercargill Told to Rethink Public Transport

Invercargill's public transport system needs to be scrapped and rebuilt. That, at least, is the view gaining traction at the council table.

Mayor Tom Campbell told councillors this week the city should abandon any tinkering with its existing setup and start over. "Clearly what we have at the moment does not work well. I think there is a need to start with... pretty much a blank sheet of paper and see how we would... design it from scratch," Campbell said.

A council report laid out the uncomfortable reality: Invercargill's grid layout, minimal congestion, and easy parking make it almost impossible to sell buses as a sensible choice. When driving is quicker and cheaper, most people drive. Bus patronage is very low. Parking facility patronage is very high.

Funding for the current service splits as 53 percent from NZTA, 39 percent from rates, and just 8 percent from fares — set at $2 for youth and $4 for adults. The city runs six public bus routes and five school bus routes.

Councillor Grant Dermody was blunt. He said he was getting frustrated that staff kept presenting papers recommending tweaks without touching the real problem. A public transport system should make a city more livable, Dermody said. "We've got to actually step back a bit and get a really deep understanding of what the needs of our community are and then build our system to support that need."

Councillor Marcus Lush floated the idea of two simple routes — clockwise and counter-clockwise — and pushed for services to Riverton and Bluff. He was sceptical about enthusiasm for the current offering, saying there was "not a lot of love in Invercargill for public transport that I can see".

Councillor Darren Ludlow raised the harder question underneath all of it: does the council actually want to invest enough to generate critical mass?

Community engagement was put forward as one way to understand what might get people onto buses. Whether that produces anything more than another report remains to be seen.