Antidote NZ

Key question:Will commonsense and logic lead to a rethink of the bus routes, or will pig-headed bureacrats protect their pride and push forward with the change they recommended?

Im still confused as to why we needed to replace the existing service that actually worked...

GWRC should be ashamed of themselves. They have ruined a fantastic Wellington service. And that is never going to return now.

The few circular routes linking suburbs that used to exist have nearly all been dropped so thats not a good point to argue on. The vast majority of travelers want a simple route in and out of the CBD so where is all this sudden demand for new circular routes coming from? Just how many people want to go from the likes of Southgate to Kingston? Two per bus if theyre lucky. If I was doing that trip Id drive because its possible to park at either end.As for having to make hubs work..I know with absolute certainty (since it was included in my submission..) that the GWRC were told during the consultation phase that they would not work. And just saying they have to work isnt going to make them work either.

Why do hubs have to be made to work Mr Laidlaw?

The new bus service makes me angry going home from work, have had to wait nearly an hour at least once each week as the the Churton Park No 1 goes past Grand Arcade on Willis Street from 5.10 pm, either stops but cant take more passengers or just fing drives on by not stopping. Grand Arcade Willis Street is a joke round peak hour, cos there must be less buses taking on more people there are just too many people milling around waiting conjesting the sidewalk. Im considering driving to and from work again, ridic when the bus is door to door...

Although hubs were not backed by the public, Laidlaw said they had to be made to work Did he say why? Because it sounds like a pretty weird statement to me. The whole hub idea seems pretty pointless compared to the previous system which worked quite well. Why would anyone want to catch more than one bus if they can avoid it?

This wouldnt have been a problem had you not used some firm in Canada to draw up the routes just looking at Wellingtons maps-without due context of the topography. Prior to this change, I saw no major issues with the former bus routes. Scrap the lot and go back to the original routes.

Beauracrats. Getting paid a fortune, and no accountability. No doubt not a single one of them will man up (or non-gender up if that floats your boat) and accept an iota of responsibility.

Was the System broken before July???? Or was it BEANCOUNTERS at work thinking they could make a good system even better FAIL!!!!

there was a lot of doubt about the new routes/getting rid of the trolleys etc long before the go live date. Laidlaw and his cohorts shouted that down. Now its time for them to step down. Still no sign of electric buses.

Bus hubs will work!WHEN they upgrade all the roads to be multi lane in both directions, remove buildings and parking to provide space for dedicated bus interchanges, and then alter the timetables to fit it, taking into account the time required for each route including stops and adding contingency buffers between transfers. Bonus points if they also bring in a fleet of fully electric buses capable of negotiating both the windy roads and hills.Oh, was that the plan? What part did they miss?Thats right, the bit where it relies on having space enough on the roads!Meanwhile I still finish tech after 6pm in Newtown and wait half an hour for the 10-min-frequency #3 thats been held up somewhere back along the line until finally 3 show up at once which cant pass each other along Wallace St or upper Taranaki and then end up playing leapfrog along popular CBD stops because theyve still each managed to acquire passengers needing to disembark.And I am resigned to waiting 25 min at manners because they missed my connection.Yay. Another week of this starts tomorrow.

Rule number 1 ( applies to every aspect of life.) If it works , dont #%@& with it.Rule number 2 never disobey rule number 1

Hubs remind me of the London Underground. Switching from one train to another. It doesnt work for buses. Too much to factor in like traffic, lights, road works etc

Classic centralised bureaucratic failure. A sudden city-wide implementation of a new plan originated by a control-freak GWRC. Route and timetable changes imposed by dictatorial planners. Experienced drivers and staff forced out by an absurd contractual âpurchaseâ model. Hubs are a concept for cities at least ten times larger than Wellington with high bus frequencies. An amateur group of politicians who now lack the honesty to resign. The first step needed is for central government to appoint a Commissioner to replace them.

This is why I drive

Why is Metlink/GRWC still talking about the problems?Thousands have provided feedback since going live and thousands more during the so called consultation phase. Why dont GRWC presents a summary of what they have received so far and then say this is what we are going to do to fix the problem. Otherwise it is just another talk fest and delaying tactic. Do we need to invoke OIA to get the information?

They brought in a new untested bus system then fired the old drivers and brought in new inexperienced drivers at the same time. Whos bright idea was that?

The latter I think. They will quote some dreamed up statistics on how things are so much better now

Thats ideology hard at work. He complains about others ideology, while totally presuming his councils is a master class on public transport.