Hamilton Public Transport Joint Committee OPEN MINUTES

Transcription

1 Hamilton Public Transport Joint Committee OPEN MINUTES Minutes of a meeting of the Regional Public Transport Plan Development Subcommittee held in Council Chambers, Waikato Regional Council, 401 Grey Street, Hamilton East on Friday 18 May 2018 at 10.00am Waikato Regional Council Hamilton City Council Waipa District Council NZ Transport Agency Access & Mobility Present: Members Cr R Rimmington Cr J Hennebry Cr D Macpherson Cr L Tooman Cr J Bannon M Kettle G Pomeroy (non voting) New Zealand Transport Agency Waikato Regional Council staff Hamilton City Council staff IN ATTENDANCE: C O Keefe Principal Planning Advisor M Garrett Chief Financial Officer A Carnell Team Leader, Network planning and performance A Wilson Manager, Public Transport S Marinkovich Team Leader, Finance T Bio Democracy Advisor J Harrison Unit Manager, Hamilton City Transport Doc #

2 The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed Cr Bannon in replacement of Cr Webber of Waipa District Council and Cole O Keefe (Principal Planning Advisor, NZ Transport Agency) to the meeting. Apologies The apologies from Waikato District Councillor D Fulton, Waipa District Councillor G Webber, and Hamilton City Councillor Tooman for early departure were accepted. Accepted Confirmation of Agenda (Agenda Item 2) Cr Hennebry moved/cr Tooman seconded. HPTJC18/04 THAT the agenda of the meeting of the Hamilton Public Transport Joint Committee of 18 May 2018, as circulated, be confirmed as the business for the meeting. The motion was put and carried (HPTJC18/04) Disclosures of Interest (Agenda Item 3) There were no disclosures of interest. Minutes of Previous Meeting Item 4 Doc # Cr Hennebry moved/cr Rimmington seconded. HPTJC18/05 THAT the Minutes of the Hamilton Public Transport Joint Committee meeting of 16 February 2018 be received and approved as a true and correct record. (The motion was put and carried HPTJC18/05) Hamilton Public Transport Update (Agenda Item 6) Doc# A Wilson (Manager, Public Transport) provided the Hamilton Public Transport Joint Committee with a PowerPoint presentation (Doc ) on matters relevant to the implementation and monitoring of the Waikato Regional Public Transport Plan as it affects Hamilton City. The Committee welcomed Andrew Carnell (Network Planning and Performance) to the Transport team. Doc # Page 2

3 The Chair noted the arrival of Nat Tatana (Union delegate and Go Bus delegate) and Louisa Jones (Secretary, First Union), who were to present a deputation for bus drivers and welcomed them to the meeting. With the consent of the members, the report for the Hamilton Public Transport Update was put on hold and the deputation was heard. Deputation from Go Bus and First Union (Agenda Item 5) A deputation, which spoke to matters relevant to bus drivers wishes that the Living Wage be paid to all Waikato Regional Council contracted bus drivers in the Waikato, was presented by Nat Tatana (Union delegate and Go Bus delegate). It was noted that the Union had been bargaining with Go Bus since The goal of this was to achieve the living wage for all bus drivers. Recently, there have been industrial actions occurring to highlight the fact that drivers are unable to survive on their current wage of $17.66 and $18.25 per hour. It was emphasised that bus drivers did not want to go on strike but felt that this would be the only avenue for their concerns to be addressed. Go Bus have said that they would be in support of providing the living wage to drivers subject to conditions. One being if Council elected to stipulate specific living wage for all operators. Another being if contract and costs to move to higher rates would be recoverable. The Go Bus contract spans over nine years and was reviewed last year in This meant that it would be eight years until the next review and, given the current situation drivers are faced with, they felt that they could not wait that long for change to happen. The benefits of providing drivers with the living wage were identified as follows; Improved services to the Waikato community; Improved living and social condition for families of the drivers; and Improved working relationship with Go Bus The reality of receiving low wages puts a substantial amount of stress on the drivers. They are forced to work long hours in order to receive more money. This includes weekends meaning they would miss out on family time. It was noted a few drivers have had to visit food banks or take on another job as their income did not provide enough to survive on. In summation, this deputation asked for Council to take action so that drivers could receive a decent living wage. The Chairman speaking on behalf of the Hamilton Public Transport Joint Committee, provided a response to questions and issues raised by Nat Tatana, noting that this had been a powerful presentation from the heart. The Chair was aware that similar discussions had taken place, regarding living wage, with other councils. It was noted by the Hamilton City Council representative his council had not supported the fare increase. However, if a fare increase contributed to bus driver wages and the contract was rewritten to include this then they would support the 5% increase. It was noted that driver wages was a national issue and Waikato Regional Council was a part funder of the service, feedback from conversations with the remaining Doc # Page 3

4 funders was required. It was also noted that Waikato Regional Council has sought advice from Central Government. It was explained that Minister Twyford had asked Ministry of Transport, NZ Transport Agency and Ministry of Innovation and Business Employment to look into this matter and report back. This report is expected be available in The Chairman, on behalf of the Committee, thanked Mr Tatana and First Union Assistant General Secretary Louisa Jones for the time taken to present to the Committee. The Chair advised that this topic will go through due process and both the First Union and Go Bus drivers would be informed in due course. With the consent of the members, the meeting resumed with the report for the Hamilton Public Transport Update. Hamilton Public Transport Update (Agenda Item 6) Doc# Implementation planning New ticketing system Pre Implementation Phase New cards would be issued free to any person, prior to the changeover day via various outlets Hamilton Transport Centre, University of Waikato, on the bus and on the website with direct mail out option. An emphasis was placed on community awareness and staff were looking to promote and raise awareness of the new electronic ticketing system update. It was noted that travel on all services would be free for up to seven days prior to the changeover date, provided that there be presentation of a new card when boarding. If a person did not have a new card then they would be required to pay via cash or by using their existing BUSIT card as per normal. The emphasis on communicating this detail to the public would be part of the promotion and awareness operation. Changeover day and beyond A member asked if it was possible to send information to the catchment areas to advise how this would work. It was noted that this information would be provided to them via the same promotion and awareness operation as identified above. In terms of SuperGold card holders, it was understood that there would be no minimum balance required on the new card but this would need to be confirmed. A recommendation from the previous Hamilton Public Transport Joint Committee meeting sought to have new cards provided for free to all SuperGold card entitled passengers unless a replacement was required for a lost or damaged card. This was included as part of the revised implementation plan and the fee for the replacement card would be $5. To ensure that only the appropriate persons would be using SuperGold cards, when tagging on and off the bus there would be a different sound to the normal bus cards, which would give the opportunity for the driver to assess if the customer was eligible for SuperGold. Doc # Page 4

5 At this point in time, it was estimated that around 40,000 people use BUSIT cards. Staff wanted to ensure the transition period would run as smoothly as possible and this is where the website would help take stress from the counters. Conversations would occur to introduce a mobile application that users could check their bus card balance, top up bus cards, and report lost and stolen and other functions. Fare increase A 2.5% fare increase for Hamilton was proposed to be implemented at the time as the introduction of the new system. If the ticketing project was delayed, direction would be sought from the Committee on whether to implement the fare increase in advance of the ticketing project. TI was noted that fare increase for the service outside of Hamilton is not proposed due to the fare being subject to considerable change as a result of implementing the new zonal structure. Ministry of Education IT was noted that withdrawal of the 2509 Morrinsville Ministry of Education service has been deferred to July 2019 due to an error in the original assessment and due to capacity issues on public service. The Ministry of Education service from Cambridge will be withdrawn in July Staff noted that there is expected to be capacity on the public service to accommodate students. Members suggested that at the next Regional Transport Committee meeting there be a discussion to send a draft letter to the Minister regarding capacity levels. This action was supported by the Chair. District Services Waipa District A member inquired about what kind of encouragement could be provided to Territorial Authorities to utilize public transport. A suggestion was to provide funding for better bus shelters as there had been indication that one out of three bus shelters are not adequate. Staff agreed that they would need to check on what has been done in the region regarding this and report back if back to the Committee if the bus shelter was approved as a technical specification. Waikato services North Waikato Public Transport Improvements In relation to passenger rail the approach taken was that Waikato Regional Council had submitted to Waikato District Council that staff rail service be entered in their Long Term Plan. If this project proceeded then Waikato Regional Council would take the Hamilton Papakura express bus service in year 2 out of the Long Term Plan. City services New central connector Doc # Page 5

6 It was noted that a priority is to get a free CBD zone in the new ticketing system. At this point staff could not confirm that this will be delivered as part of Go Live. It was noted that discussion with organisations and key stakeholders should occur regarding improving CBD bus stops and members were advised that J Harrison (Unit Manager, Hamilton City Transport) and Cr Macpherson would look into this. Rotokauri development The proposed Orbitor bus route change would service the Southern end of Rotokauri. Members were advised that there would be a presentation for this at the next Committee meeting. The key drive for this route change was that it would pick up a larger catchment population. Growth planning This model approach would run as a demand responsive ride share scenario. Smaller vehicles would take people directly to a destination if there was not much demand for it in the first instance. If no demand the vehicles would not run. A member inquired what a trial might look like for instance, somewhere that was not serviced at this point. Staff suggested to look at at the night rider services to use as trial and could potentially do this in the scope of existing budget. A member queried about vehicles that could accommodate persons with impaired mobility. Such vehicles were not being used when users were in school or work so the question was raised as to whether such vehicles could be used in an uber sense within the specification of this proposed trial? Staff agreed it would be a possibility. The Chair noted the Committee s support for running the Night Rider trial and stated that there would need to be consultation with appropriate people regarding budget and how this would look. Operations Activity Report Patronage Update There was an expectation that next month would produce better figures. Reasons for the low levels of patronage in April were attributed to less working days as well as school holidays and Easter weekend falling within April. Cr Tooman out of meeting at 12.06pm Marketing update There would be dedicated cinema advertisements in Hamilton, online advertisements and also within local papers to encourage the public to utilize public transport. Doc # Page 6

7 In relation to Bus backs, a member suggested having flashing arrows on the bus to indicate to public to let the bus go first. The issue of bylaws was discussed and would be looked in to. Hamilton City Council Infrastructure Update The Committee was advised that following the 1 st of August 2018, a report would be available regarding the Rototuna north bus stop. It was suggested that busses could have stickers above seats that read Give your seat to Senior or of similar nature. It was noted that the front of the bus was usually reserved for mobility impaired people but nothing that specifically asks for people to give up their seats to the elderly or impaired. Chair thanked staff for their efforts for today s meeting and presentations. Cr Macpherson moved/cr Hennebry seconded. HPTJC18/06 THAT the report Hamilton Public Transport Update (Doc # dated May 2018) be received for information. The motion was put and carried (HPTJC18/06) The meeting closed at 12.27pm Doc # Doc # Page 7