The morning rush hour on the buses between Richmond and Nelson is so busy that there are now six buses leaving Richmond in less than an hour every weekday morning.
Two of those morning buses between 7.45am and 8.30am are overflow buses to cater for the number of people wanting to take the bus, including numerous school students.
Nelson City Council group manager infrastructure, Alec Louverdis, says two overflow buses head out of Richmond’s interchange in the morning during the week and one overflow bus heads back at 3.15pm. A second overflow bus may be added in the afternoon soon.
In March, Route 1, which is the busiest route between Richmond and Nelson, recorded 32,099 passenger journeys, with an additional 3,573 on the overflow bus that follows Route 1. Route 2, that is also between Richmond and Nelson, recorded 28,726 passengers.
The Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee has revealed the overflow buses are costing $10,000 a month which is part of the new eBus service overspend of more than $1 million. But it was argued that stopping the service would leave people on the side of the road.
Meanwhile, it has been standing room only for some passengers on the busy routes and Alec says New Zealand public transport rules allow for that. He says, the rules recognise that urban buses do not have seatbelts and it allows standing passengers.
The Foton buses that make up the majority of the eBus fleet can seat 40 with 17 standing, meaning each bus at capacity can carry 57 passengers. At peak times, which are the morning commute and afternoon buses, he says the buses are regularly full to capacity with passengers sitting and standing.
“We want to remind all passengers of the best practice for peak-time travel. Please don’t put bags on seats, and if someone boards that may need a seat more than you do, please consider giving them your seat.”
Thirteen new bus shelters have been recently rolled out across Nelson, Stoke and Atawhai. In Tasman, a bus shelter is going up on Wallace St in Motueka, with more shelters planned and included in the budget.
