Subscribe to RSSSmall Auckland Bus Operator Gives Up
Sad to see an enterprising small Auckland bus operator, trying to fill a gap in public transport, not being able to continue.
Since August last year, Scott Macarthur has been running a 19-seater bus providing a service between Pt Chevalier and Newmarket at peak times on weekdays and between 9.15am - 5.45pm on Saturdays.
Previously, those wanting to travel from Point Chevalier to Newmarket had to catch the 045 service and then transfer at Karangahape Road. The total cost of such a journey is $4.80. Macarthur Buslines offered a direct route to Newmarket for $3.20.
But in the end, it can’t pay its way.
He says he has to discontinue because unfortunately 8 months later, the company is not breaking even on the basis of current patronage.
“Further, patronage appears to be flattening out at uneconomic levels. I would like to thank all customers who have supported the bus route while in operation.”
The Newmarket Business Association was among the supporters of his entreprenueral efforts.
He should be proud of what he has tried to do.
The bus service finishes on April 09.
Sadly, it’s hard to run a small business and afford a big advertising campaign.
The bus service has been a secret around Auckland, a secret people seem to discover only by accident.
But such links by small operators are vitally important to fill gaps by the big players and may become even more important as the authorities have to review their subsidies and consider eliminating poorly patronised services.
6 Comments
Integrated ticketing would have made his route pointless anyway since it would allow passengers to transfer without paying extra.
Perhaps it would be worth extending the 006 route to Pt Chev if there is actually demand for a Pt Chev-Newmarket service?
not pointless - its bound to be faster to travel on a direct service than out of the way, wait for another bus then complete the dog-leg. Plus we don’t know where the zone boundaries will be or how the new ticket will even work yet.
That’s a shame - I’ve used that bus a bit and it was great.
Why wasn’t he getting an ARTA subsidy, gotta encourage people who want to make our city better…
“Why wasn’t he getting an ARTA subsidy”
Because NZ bus would have had their lawyers in there in a flash? Competition AND subsidies? I am surprised they didn’t try to kill it off even without them…
Well I am sure they tried ingolfson. I can always remember returning to the Pt Chevalier end of the bus route, about 3 weeks after I started, to find 3 cop cars waiting for me. They threw the rule book at me, but could only find one infringement - not have my schedule with me. That had to be NZ bus or similar. ARTA have been very difficult to deal with also, hard to know how much influence people like NZ Bus have over them.