All the passengers got off this Te Kūiti connector bus in Hamilton, none continued to Wintec. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Te Kūiti’s Connector bus service is struggling after a year’s trial and its future is under threat.
There are concerns at Waikato Regional Council headquarters in Hamilton about its King Country and South Waikato connector services.
While services to and from Waipā – Cambridge and Te Awamutu – are enjoying growth, the buses from further afield are not.
The Te Kūiti bus leaves the town’s i-Site at 6.40am and is in Hamilton at 8.10am and Wintec Rotokauri 15 minutes later. The service leaves 5.15pm and gets back to Te Kūiti at 6.47pm.
Waitomo mayor John Robertson said his council originally agreed to support the service for the first year of operation until July 1 2024, but it appeared the regional council’s plan was for district support to continue until July 2025.
“We submitted to the regional council about that, that they bring that date forward one year,” Robertson said.
He believed the initial Waitomo support which will be discontinued on July 1, was about $20,000 and thought Ōtorohanga District Council support was at a similar level. Hamilton education providers also contributed to the service.
But he noted public transport funding was a responsibliity of the regional council, he said.
Getting “bums on seats” is the aim of Waikato Regional Council’s Customer Focus team leader Sandra Sesto-Dekic.
Numbers on the Te Kūiti connector would be even worse if overcrowding on Te Awamutu buses had not encouraged passengers to hop on the early morning King Country service.
She says the message on the trial service to and from Te Kūiti is use it or lose it.
Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency funded 51 per cent for the trial.
“It is a shame, it is a trial and for the trial to be successful, someone will be looking at those numbers while they are making their decision as to whether it should continue or not,” Sesto-Dekic said.
Waikato’s regional bus services have enjoyed a huge injection of cash and resources which have brought expanded timetables, electric buses and connector routes south to Te Kūiti.
The number 24 Te Awamutu service to Hamilton has a record 13,000 passengers last month – soaring ahead of pre Covid numbers – and up nearly 40 per cent on May last year.
The other Waipā service – number 20 from Cambridge – carried more than 12,000 passengers last month while the Tamahere-Matangi trial in Waikato district, launched in February, has started with a hiss and a roar.
Frequency has been given as the major reason for the boost in numbers plus the introduction of modern electric models.
In Waitomo patrons have another option of catching the Taumarunui hospital bus which stops at Te Kūiti Hospital weekdays at 9.15am and arrives in Hamilton at 10.40am. The return journey starts at 3pm and reaches Te Kūiti at 5pm.
Meanwhile, all regional bus fares will go up on July 1.
“We are now looking at the biggest ever tariff changes since we had the Bee card,” said Sesto-Dekic.
Part of it is the government’s decision to scrap subsidies for age-based fares. Before April 30, children aged five to 12 travelled free and 13-24 got half price fares.
The regional council opted to keep those until July 1.
Super Gold card holders and those with an impairment, which means they are unable to drive, remain free.
