My Account
Questions are being asked about how long Rodney ratepayers should continue to subsidise loss-making bus services with the 10-year Rodney Local Board targeted rate.
The bulk of money raised from the rate so far has been spent on three subsidised services between Helensville and Silverdale, Westgate and Albany, and Warkworth and Wellsford.
At a Board meeting last month, Warkworth subdivision member Steven Garner asked what was the cost per passenger, per trip.
“Is there a time when we sit and crunch those numbers and say should we be continuing this?” he asked. “Spending money on particular routes, there must be a point where we say ‘this route isn’t working’.”
However, Board chair Phelan Pirrie said the intention was to run the services for three years and if they were meeting Auckland Transport (AT) passenger thresholds, then AT would look at taking them on.
“Two already are – Wellsford to Warkworth and Albany to Westgate,” Mr Pirrie said. “If they continue to meet targets, AT will take them over.”
Only 40 per cent of the funds collected from the rate over its first two years has been spent, with the Board stockpiling the rest for the big ticket item, the Warkworth park and ride. The park and ride will cost an estimated $5 million and will provide 131 carparks.
Of the $3.4 million that has been spent, 74 per cent ($2,543,433) went on bus services, 14 per cent ($508,669) on park and ride investigations, 11 per cent ($399,737) on bus stops and the remainder on “incidentals”.
Under the targeted rate rules, each subdivision in the Board area will receive a proportion of the benefits of the targeted rate equal to the proportion of revenue collected from that subdivision. Warkworth and Wellsford are still well below their totals (see Figure 1).
Spending on the targeted rate is split into service costs for ongoing activities, which includes the bus services, maintenance of facilities and any land rents; and project costs for building of infrastructure such as bus stops, footpaths, and park and ride facilities.
