Council's vision of providing public transport as a viable part of Dunedin's infrastructure required attracting a substantial, sustained increase in patronage, a report presented yesterday to the finance and corporate committee said.
Patronage figures had been dropping consistently for the past two years, with the only anomaly March, when 2009 and 2010 trips exceeded March 2008 figures. They were also not meeting council-imposed targets.
Since July, contractors' monthly fare revenue was also "lagging slightly" behind revenue taken in the same months for the previous two years.
The committee approved a set of principles to guide further improvements in customer care as a starting point for the development of a regional public transport plan.
They included customers having the right to a quality, defect-free service, to be involved in managing quality bus services, to be able to access detailed timetable information and having publicly visible performance standards.
Cr Duncan Butcher said increasing standards cost money, and if the council was not getting "bums on seats" then that should be reflected in its investment.
A council workshop was needed so staff could get a "steer" on where the council wanted to go on this issue, he said.
The committee also agreed with a recommendation that early-morning services (6.30am) on the Opoho and Concord runs be dropped for the re-tendering of the city routes package, as they fell below the threshold of the percentage of the trip having greater than five passengers.
Cr Scott said he was concerned the council was in danger of incrementally cutting and eroding the bus network it had worked hard to establish.
Chairman Stephen Woodhead said the council needed to make sure it achieved efficient services for its investment.
"There's going to be some hard decisions for bus services in the next few years."
Chief executive Graeme Martin said the biggest complaint the council fielded was about buses driving around near empty or empty, wasting ratepayers' money.
The council would also, for the first time, take advantage of the ability to allow for up to 10-year contracts by tendering for both five- and eight-year terms.
