Chris Bishop - MP for Hutt South

11 September 2018

MP for Hutt South Chris Bishop has released the results of a survey showing Hutt residents are unhappy with changes to the bus network by the Wellington Regional Council.

“I’ve been running a survey since 1 August and over 600 people responded. The results are as follows:

· 62% of people are dissatisfied or very DISSATISFIED at the changes

· 67% of people have experienced MORE timetable disruption as a result of the changes

· 56% of people say they are LESS LIKELY to use buses as a result of the changes

“While it’s pretty clear that the situation in the Hutt is not as diabolically bad as the situation in Wellington, these are very concerning results and the Regional Council must step up and take action to sort the problems out. It’s deeply concerning to hear that only in recent days has the GWRC Chief Executive started working “full-time” on problems with the buses. This should have happened from the start. Likewise, why is an international expert only being employed now to help sort the timetables out?”

“Clear themes emerged from the qualitative survey results. Residents are concerned first and foremost about buses turning up late (mentioned by 42% of people). The second most mentioned concern was buses not turning up at all (22% of people).

“The third most mentioned concern was a lack of driver training, which was mentioned by 19% of respondents.

“The Regional Council has dropped the ball and Hutt residents are the ones paying the price. I will continue to strongly advocate for Hutt commuters and bus users so that we have a public transport system that people want to use and can rely on.

“My survey results along with all anonymised comments have been forwarded to the Regional Council and I will be following up with them to ensure they are acted upon.”

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