A report presented to council this week showed it was difficult to promote public transport as an option for getting into town when it was easier for people to use their own vehicle.
Factors at play included Invercargill’s grid formation, low congestion and parking options.
Community engagement was put forward as a way to understand what would get people on buses, but councillors did not hold back in their assessment of the situation.
‘‘Clearly what we have at the moment does not work well.
‘‘I think there is a need to start with ... pretty much a blank sheet of paper and see how we would ... design it from scratch.’’
Cr Grant Dermody said he was frustrated staff were presenting papers which recommended tweaks without addressing the real issue.
A public transport system should make a city more livable, he said.
‘‘We’ve got to actually step back a bit and get a really deep understanding of what the needs of our community are and then build our system to support that need.’’
Cr Marcus Lush asked if Invercargill could be serviced by two routes — clockwise and counter-clockwise — and called for Riverton and Bluff services.
Cr Lush wanted the council to look at places where public transport was done well because there was ‘‘not a lot of love in Invercargill for public transport that I can see’’.
For Cr Darren Ludlow, the question needed to be asked whether the council wanted to invest in public transport so it could generate critical mass.
The council report said public bus patronage was very low and parking facility patronage very high, noting anecdotal evidence that people in Invercargill preferred to drive rather than use public transport.
Funding for the service consisted of 53% from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, 39% from rates and 8% from fares — cash prices for which are set at $2 for youth and $4 for adults.
The city is home to six public bus routes and five school bus routes.
• LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
