Public transport tendering model to be reviewed in an attempt to stem driver shortage

Tuesday, 21 May 2019

The tendering process for public transport services is to go under the microscope.(File photo)

The Government will review its method for contracting out public transport services as it looks to curb a continuing driver shortage.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford made the announcement at a Tramways Union meeting in Wellington on Tuesday, saying the current model was driving down wages and conditions and turning people away from the profession.

Greater Wellington Regional Council chief executive Greg Campbell addressed a parliamentary select committee on the city's bus problems in September last year.

Twyford was referring to the controversial public transport operating model (PTOM) introduced by the National government in 2013, which encouraged councils to commercialise public transport services and had led to a 'race to the bottom'.

'While we know that PTOM has driven down the cost of providing public transport services in terms of cost per service kilometre, we have to ask: who is paying the price?' Twyford told more than 100 union members at the St Patrick's Church Hall.

**READ MORE:

Transport Minister Phil Twyford made the announcement at a Tramways Union meeting in Kilbirnie, Wellington, on Tuesday.

* Region's 'chronic' driver shortage

* Metlink quiet on train cancellations

NZ Bus chief executive Zane Fulljames also spoke at the meeting.

* Hutt Valley and Wairarapa trains suspended

* No trains, crammed buses, and IT failures**

Tramways Union members say driving needs to be viewed as an attractive career option. (File photo)

'The bus industry is struggling right now to deliver consistently reliable services because of driver shortages - shortages that in Wellington are causing significant cancellation of services on a daily basis.'

The reason for the driver shortage was 'no mystery', Twyford said.

'I have made no secret of my concern about the impact of the PTOM competitive tendering process driving down wages and conditions.

'PTOM was ostensibly set up to drive commercial efficiencies, but the effect of it has been to set off a race to the bottom.'

Twyford received loud applause, along with a cry of '[it's] about time', as he went on to announce a full review of the model.

The Ministry of Transport website states PTOM was introduced to reduce reliance on Government subsidies for public transport.

It was hoped the model would create incentives for services to become fully commercial, create competition in the market, and ensure services were priced efficiently.

NZ Bus chief executive Zane Fulljames, who also spoke at the meeting, said he was delighted the current model would be reviewed.

'When you go into a tendering process, it should be about the quality of service that you provide,' he told members.

'It should not be about a 'least cost' tendering process where terms and conditions of people are affected.'

Drivers were performing 'incredibly well' under difficult circumstances, including heavy congestion and unreliable real-time information (RTI) boards, Fulljames said.

Once the driver shortage was corrected, NZ Bus would be seen as the 'best in the industry'.

But some drivers expressed concern about new rosters since Christmas, such as an increasing number of four-hour days.

Another said he had seen about 180 more senior drivers leave the company since he joined in 2010, with many less experienced drivers also likely to have left.

'There has always been a high turnover of staff in this industry, irrespective of PTOM.

'My view is, the only way to get people to stay in this environment is to promote bus driving as a career that they can build a life around.'

Fulljames said he agreed, and the company had worked for the past 12 years to reduce annual turnover from 30 per cent to 9 per cent.

The company had been reviewing rosters with Greater Wellington Regional Council, which runs the region's public transport network, Fulljames said.