Otago Regional councillor Michael Deaker maintains the best strategy for Dunedin's bus services is for gradual, prudent and practical improvements.
The Otago Daily Times recently queried what constitutes better bus services for Dunedin.
Do 218 new services and four new routes, electronic ticketing, the GoCard discount, and more than 40 extra bus shelters constitute better bus services? Add to all those a voiced online timetable for the blind plus a bus fleet that's now 86% super-low-floor - all more achievements of the Otago Regional Council's (ORC) GoBus programme since late 2007.
To go further, we first need to think about the role we want public transport to play in our car-based transport system, for it's our commitment to the car that shapes our use of public transport.
The New Zealand Transport Strategy, released in 2008, recognises how integral the car is to modern life.
In the face of climate change, peak oil, volatile fuel prices, concerns over energy security and the environmental effects of cars, many of the strategy's answers are car-based: different ways to adapt and power vehicles, including biofuels, electric and hybrid vehicles, are at the core of New Zealand's transport strategy, not the elimination of private vehicles.
Our commitment to the car runs deep.
More than just a mode of transport, the car connects us directly to our everyday activities and makes many of them possible.
Our vehicles are the tools that allow us to schedule and fit more and more things into our daily lives.
In short, the car lets us access new opportunities and experiences, and provides great dependence.
So where in our car-based transport network, should public transport fit? The Government is looking to improve public transport where traffic congestion hurts the local economy - Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Improvements in other areas are of lesser priority.
The Government's view is important because it funds about a quarter of the cost of Dunedin bus services.
Although the Government is encouraging people to use different modes of transport - using public transport and walking or cycling more often - it also wants its investment in transport to reflect and support the choices people currently make, most of which are based on car travel.
The ORC and the Dunedin City Council (DCC) are fostering a mixed-mode transport system for urban Dunedin, with public transport providing a realistic choice when the need is there.
A mixed-mode system is one in which people find it relatively easy to combine travel modes - walking, driving, sharing a ride, taking a bus, skateboarding, cycling - in ways that suit their personal, family or household needs.
It's a transport mix-and-match.
This is not the same as making public transport a full substitute for car-based travel.
The difference between people's attitudes and behaviour means there is no point aiming for a gold-medal public transport system in Dunedin, although some parts of our present system are high quality.
Many of us favour improving public transport, often because of environmental concerns, but this doesn't mean we'll use it consistently.
Research has shown there is not a strong link between (on the one hand) environmental knowledge and attitudes and (on the other hand) actual behaviour.
We have needs that can drive us in directions other than where our environmental conscience wants to take us, pushing us towards using our cars.
Moral pressure won't change that; public transport is never going to be as convenient and flexible as the private car.
To put it another way, providing top-notch bus services will not force long-term social change in the face of climate change and peak oil.
Unavailability of fossil fuels or rocketing fuel prices would.
In the meantime, the sensible stratagem - in the ORC's view - is to continue with gradual, prudent and practical improvements to buses, matching supply of services with demand for these, and keeping the basics right.
A bus system is flexible enough to accommodate rising demand - more flexible than rail and less risky.
We must be careful we don't spend a fortune on infrastructure that remains under-utilised if people turn instead to fuel-efficient cars, biking or walking, or move closer to workplaces.
As a result of the lift in quality of bus services, usage is rising steadily.
Between June 30 last year and July 1 this year patronage increased 15%, helped by government funding of free off-peak travel for SuperGold card holders.
In the 12 months prior, patronage increased 10% on the previous (pre-GoBus) year.
Funding remains a challenge, with concerns about rising bus fares raised by passengers and those who say they would use the bus more if it cost less.
Two factors contributed to rises in bus fares in July 2008 and this year.
The first is the cost of new services and infrastructure - today's fares reflect the fact we are in the middle of an improvement programme.
The second is government and ORC policy of ensuring fares cover a significant portion of operating costs which, until this July's increase, wasn't happening.
If bus fares were to be lowered, then all city ratepayers would pay more through targeted transport rates.
That would mean bus users paying a lower portion of the costs of services and the general public paying a higher portion.
The questions for all of us are: do we want bus fares to be as low as possible, or do we want them to reflect the cost of running services? How much of that cost should be borne by bus users and how much by the public at large? The ORC's policy is to split the cost of contracted services over and above the government subsidy, 50-50 between bus users and transport rates.
Dunedin's bus network has vastly improved over what it was a few years ago due to considerable investment by ORC, bus companies, bus users and ratepayers.
We have tried to improve services and infrastructure within the limits of everyone's means and will continue to do this.
The more people get out of their cars and give the buses a go, the more we'll know we're on the right track.
Indications so far are positive and encouraging.
- Michael Deaker is chairman of the ORC policy and resource planning committee.
