The Bay of Plenty Public Transport committee is recommending partnering with Tauranga City Council and NZTA to do further analysis on whether public bus services could be made free for Tauranga school students.
The Public Transport committee met in Tauranga on Friday, with the investigation of potential free transport for school students one of the topics on the agenda.
PT Chairman Cr Lyall Thurston says Bay of Plenty Regional Council's school transport survey indicates that if students could travel for free on Tauranga buses, it would likely remove some cars from the morning peak period.
'Without more modelling, we don't know whether those bus services would still be caught in traffic congestion, and therefore whether there is an even greater need for bus priority on some of our road networks. We will all need to work together to investigate this further.
'If school students could travel more quickly via public transport than in private cars, bus patronage would be much higher and the benefits to all road users would be much greater.
'The transport challenges in Western Bay of Plenty cannot be achieved by one single agency on its own.
'Transport is personal for everyone in the community and travel times and safety affect the economy, jobs and our quality of life. We need to ensure the Western Bay of Plenty keeps moving and this project will help us work out whether this is an option that might help us achieve that.”
Bay of Plenty Regional Council will also fast-track an investigation into potential solutions for travel congestion issues being experienced by Welcome Bay students taking the bus to school.
He says while free-fares would lessen the financial burden on families of school students, the cost of the foregone fare revenue would be about $1.2 million per annum.
Current Tauranga student bus fares are $2 or $1.60 with a Smartride card.
The Public Transport Committee will recommend to Bay of Plenty Regional Council that $100,000 funding is provided to investigate the costs and benefits of the proposal.
10 comments
What happened
Posted on 14-05-2018 11:54 | By Angels
It was not many years ago.Students actually walked , biked and maybe car pooled .I agree It is probably dangerous to walk as with everyone looking down at their phones etc, they are more distracted. We only had the friends we all walked with to do that.If the distance is to great agree with buses, controlled by schools handing out the monthly passes. No wide open program as gets abused far too easily.
Safety First
Posted on 14-05-2018 12:45 | By Road Ranger
By looking at the photo I hope these kids don't travel on the bus kneeing on the seats facing backwards!! An accident waiting to happen. . . . . . .
$100,000 to
Posted on 14-05-2018 13:00 | By earlybird
No wonder our rates keep escalating at an alarming rate.
Angels..
Posted on 14-05-2018 13:04 | By simple.really
Most students live more than 10km away from schools. Do you seriously expect them to walk, or even cycle with the way cyclists are treated? How many kids do you think would get killed?
100k
Posted on 14-05-2018 13:37 | By Capt_Kaveman
reason why this council is dysfunctional more wasting of my rates
Free Buses for All
Posted on 14-05-2018 17:27 | By Ady
Why not go further and have a free bus service for all. Sounds expensive but how much is wasted with people sat in their cars and the constant road upgrades? They need to be more regular with more routes available but it's a big incentive to get people out of their cars.
Stop
Posted on 14-05-2018 17:50 | By astex
Stop all the meetings and investigations and just do it. There is a mass of information from all over the world that this works. Saves the ratepayers heaps in road maintenance too. Everybody wins.
SORRY, BUT
Posted on 14-05-2018 19:56 | By The Caveman
NOTHING IS FREE !!!! Somebody - AKA - RATEPAYERS will be paying for "FREE" buses. Given that 40% PLUS of Tauranga ratepayer base are over 50 and have NO kids at home, WHY should 40% of ratepayers on FIXED incomes be paying for getting kids to school, ESPECIALLY when the same 40% of ratepayers have NO interest/intention to be on the road s at 7.30/9.00 am in the morning OR between 2.30/4.30pm in the afternoon. Did I miss something ?? USER PAYS.........................
It's not rocket science Mr Caveman
Posted on 15-05-2018 13:19 | By astex
The cost to the ratepayers for the kids to be on buses is regained many times over by the savings made in road maintenance costs.ALL ratepayers pay less in the big scheme of things.
@ The Caveman............
Posted on 15-05-2018 19:02 | By groutby
......I understand your comments..perhaps I am in the minority BUT.... I am (well) over 50...no kids at home....working full time and experience Welcome Bay region traffic EVERY working day as many do. I am not at all unhappy to explore the possibility of 'free' buses at a 'sensible and accurate' cost, as one writer stated, try for 12 months with the expectation of a partial cost after that, not at all unreasonable I would have thought.....make it clear (expectations)..make it accurate (probable cost)...make it efficient...(reliable buses possibly a feeder system and using a few 'double deckers' into the city)(can we lease them from Kiwi Buses as a trial?) and hope the difference and gain is clear to all....we need to and should at least trial something....soon.....
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