The June 2009 ARTA monthly business report is out, and as always provides an interesting insight into the development of Auckland’s public transport system. What’s particularly interesting are the patronage statistics, which show the following:
The yearly patronage statistics are of less interest to me than the month versus month data – June 2009 versus June 2008. And the 5.5% increase for all public transport modes is a pretty impressive increase on this time last year. OK, I understand that it doesn’t sound that impressive, at least not compared to some of the increases we’ve had over the past year – like the 19.7% increase in March 2009 or the 9.5% increase for July 2008 – but actually I think in some ways the June patronage is more impressive than those other figures. This is for one reason – in June last year petrol prices were around 50c a litre more than they were in June this year. The public transport patronage figures show that, quite clearly, the public transport boom is not a “flash in the pan”, it’s not simply the result of higher petrol prices last year, instead it really is a long-lasting shift in the way people are travelling in Auckland.
The graph below shows the fluctuations in patronage over the past few years:
The highest months tend to be March and August, so it’ll be interesting to see if the month that’s just started can break the record set earlier this year. When I commented on last month’s monthly business report I really did think that June’s patronage would struggle to match last year – so I must say I’m pretty pleased with this outcome.
All the more reason to push for further investment in our public transport system I reckon!
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I reckon most of the 5.5% increase would be due to this June having one more weekday and one less Sunday than last year. As you say though given fuel prices this is a good result.