NZ Bus Earnings Hit By Strike

in Bus by Jon C — May 19, 2010 at 12:41 pm | 1 comment

NZ Bus earnings (excluding Fullers which was sold) were down $7 million on the previous year, according to Infratil’s annual report to March 31.

The company has also indicated it does not intend to sell NZ Bus at this stage, following the purchase of Shell which led to such speculation.
The Auckland bus unions strike reduced patronage in that market by approximately 1 million fares while Wellington had modest growth over the year.
In fact, Wellington’s bus passenger growth was flat during last year but started to pick up at the end and have improved since in both Auckland and Wellington.
Wellington had its third best month ever in March.

The report says cost control was mostly good, with only labour costs increasing relative to the prior year but the regulatory environment has been “difficult, but is evolving positively.”

CEO Marko Bogoievski said that the government “has signalled that taxpayer funding for public transport will not rise and this is putting pressure on operators and regional transport agencies to work together to improve efficiency and effectiveness, a change of approach strongly supported by NZ Bus.

The report said Snapper boasted a number of milestones during the year and Wellington and Hutt Valley now have one of the world’s best low transaction value payment systems. Approximately one third of the people in these areas have responded and own a Snapper card. Snapper is now in 200 retail outlets, North Bus, Valley Flyer, GO Wellington and East by West Ferries.
” Its success stands out against the approach taken in Australia where State transport agencies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing less effective payment systems. “

Tags: NZ Bus Infratil Snapper