It’s been a few months since we last covered public transport usage and we’ve passed through March Madness so it’s time to have a look at how our PT system is performing again.
First up, at a monthly level we can see that there’s been a mixed start to the year which suggests that the post-COVID recovery appears to have stalled. Usage in February was down on Feb-2024, though last year was a leap year so did have one extra day in the numbers. March flipped that a bit, in part thanks to an extra working day meaning that by in large, usage was about the same as it was last year.
We don’t have April’s data yet but based on current indications and the timing of Easter this year, it will likely be lower than last year.
In total over the previous 12-months 89.3 million boardings have been taken on public transport which is just about the same as it was at the end of December and still short of the 103.5 million boardings we achieved just before the pandemic hit. Unless we see some dramatic change in circumstances in the next few months, it means AT will miss it’s target of 95.9 million boardings for this financial year.
At a modal level and compared to pre-COVID volumes we’re continuing to see a similar trend to the last time we looked. There is a slight dip on rail use which is due to the massive rail shutdown throughout January. Overall, we’re sitting at an average of 86%, with:
- buses at 93%
- trains at 64%
- ferries at 79%
One big change to rail this year is the reopening of Pukekohe and we’ve heard from Auckland Transport that usage from Pukekohe is almost back to what it was pre-COVID. However, with the overall numbers using the rail network in February and March only at about the same levels as last year, suggesting that without Pukekohe, rail might be looking even worse. This really highlights how big of an impact all the disruption is having and it will take time, plus the attraction of the CRL for Aucklanders to regain faith in the network.
We can also take a bit of a look more deeply at AT’s daily data, which is currently updated to the end of the school holidays. With this you can see that with Easter and ANZAC day occurring in the same week along with the rail network shutdown we’ve seen a much larger than usual drop in weekday boardings.
However, with the school holiday exception, usage in weekends is generally continuing to improve compared previous years. This reflects comments we’ve heard from Auckland Transport that there are more people using public transport overall but they’re taking fewer trips than they did before the pandemic.
While post-COVID recovery in Auckland appears to be stalling a bit, it’s worth noting we’re not the only ones seeing this trend and the same thing is happening in many of the cities I regularly follow. Of the cities I track, Auckland and Sydney are following each other the closest with near identical results.
You might noticed above that Wellington appears to gone backwards a bit compared to around a year ago. Looking more closely you can see that bus usage in the capital is actually above pre-COVID levels but the overall result is being dragged down by rail usage, which has declined from 78% to 72% and is likely to continue to fall. Like Auckland, Wellington’s rail network has been the subject of a lot of disruption for renewal works
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While it’s known that PT usage is down since Covid, it’d be useful to know if this is because:
* Less people are travelling
* There’s been a mode switch
Maybe I’ll have a go myself, but it’d be interesting to see:
* What the trend pre/post Covid looks like if you consider just Tues-Thurs (the least common WFH days)
* The number of unique users that tag on in a week. (Although maybe this is harder with people who switch between Hop/Eftpos cards)
* What the trend looks like if you only consider ‘non-corporate’ O/D pairs/times
If these show less of a pre/post Covid gap, then it suggests that WFH (and not a lack of desire for PT) is driving it.
I am also often wondering whether the “remaining” WFO staff – those not WFH at any given day – now are slightly more likely to drive more because offices still tend to have the same number of car parks available, but fewer staff are in on any given day. In other words, for offices where previously not all staff were guaranteed spaces (first come first served), now the chances of driving in an not having to pay for parking are higher. Might be a small effect overall, but I am certainly seeing it on an anecdata basis…
We know that more people are using PT but less often, which certainly backs up the WFH angle.
I’m willing to bet the post-Covid drop is due to fewer people travelling overall due to WFH, and that drop in trips is mostly coming from PT. In Auckland and NZ in general, most commuters only use PT as a backup if they it’s too hard to drive (too much traffic or expensive). This is due to our expansive motorway network which is designed to make all but peak journeys by car extremely quick and free…there’s no way PT can compete with our uncongested road network unless we introduce road user charging or reduce our overbuilt road/parking capacity.
“there’s no way PT can compete with our uncongested road network unless we introduce road user charging or reduce our overbuilt road/parking capacity.”
This is why I think it’s insane that we’re sinking billions upon billions into highways with little benefit (even when everything is slanted in it’s favour) instead of building our public transport system to be on-par with our roading network. Any argument against public transport is an argument against our highways, and I’m tired of seeing NZ continue to pretend otherwise.
I’m sure some will scoff at this because not all of our state highways are grade-seperated, or there’s sections that aren’t safe for 100 kmph etc etc. Which are all issues that are worth resolving – but not to the tune of hundreds of billions, when you could put 10% of that into public transport and massively improve outcomes there.
Alas, we will continue to pretend that public transport is untenable in New Zealand because we only have 5 million people, while pushing through white elephant highways that’d make the USA blush.
Yes was going to say the reason out PT stats are pretty average is that driving is just too darn attractive in most situations.
It would be interesting to know more about people’s motivations when deciding on their mode of choice. There has been a lot of negative press about public transport lately on a couple of topics: reliability and safety seem to be chief concerns.
It is slightly surprising to see that the introduction of the new hopper-cardless ticketing system doesn’t seem to have lifted usage much (except possibly in the weekends).
Perhaps a significant factor is that many Aucklanders are avoiding the CBD where possible. Other destinations (shopping centres and destination areas such as Ponsonby) seem to be more generally appealing and have the added bonus of ample parking.
Interesting on the train today noticing the network map includes the Western Express. And a bit of optimistic forward thinking has Te Atatū and Lincoln Rd marked as Major Transport Hubs. Will surprise a few visitors who get off there at 10pm expecting more than a small, barely covered shelter and speeding cars.
In 2019 I was in the office 4 days a week, today I’m in the office 1 or 2 at most. My whole organization is the same, we’re never going back to full time in the office.
The train numbers are awful because AT has lost mindshare with the public, too many long shutdowns, too many problems when the trains are running. It’d be interesting to see what the passenger numbers are like for when the trains actually run.
Yeah tend to agree, plus costs of fares going up with no gain in efficiency, combined with general love for building roads, cars, EV uptake, panic around crime on buses, etc
As a person who exclusively uses public transport to move, including school pick ups and drop off for two primary aged kids, these statistics do not surprise me. The intensity of private motor vehicles at a school gate, at a school which actively encourages walking, biking and scootering, means I happily act as a human shield for my two boys.
I donate plasma and the train works excellently for this.
If the average citizen had the time to calculate the real cost of a car, they would never even consider buying one.
We are a city that still suffers the hangover of 1950s motorway mania, and we have a long way to go before we escape this, but 2026 will be a decisive year, and I choose to believe that it will convince many more people that public transport is the best, fastest, and most entertaining way to move.
bah humbug
Post February 2026 (After the holiday closures) and 2027 will be the ones I’m most curious to see. Usage of the new stations, CRL, level crossing removals. Intensification around train stations will countinue. I do think the increased ridership will increase appetite and the demand for more progress on rail/even light rail. A golden opportunity shouldn’t be wasted.
Hope they consider Tuakau and Pokeno, it should be on the cards. I understand people will say they’re in the Waikato Council. At this point, I’ll take reviving the station at Buckland, it’s still progress in the right direction.
As soon as the govt subsidy was removed it became cheaper for me to use my car so I do. It’s that simple it’s just cost
And it looks like there will be another month long train stoppage this year,
from 27 December 2025 to 26 January 2026.
Between December last year and January next year, we are going to have full or partial rail closures on 40% of the days. I can accept that the work needs to be done, but this “final push” really needs to be a “final push”.
We simply can’t have annual two week closures in 2026 at Easter and beyond. The social license for such things is already close to breaking point.
It’s nuts. KR should’ve long had the rail network taken off them. Short sharp closures in small areas allows AT to properly mitigate them. When you’ve got network ones AT doesn’t have a reasonable chance to.
The ain reason is that as service has gone down, prices for PT have gone up.
We are three everyday from suburb to CBD. 7.65 x 2 per person/trip. Thats us spending 45.90 per day busing.
We might consider it should the buses come on time and work as scheduled, but since AT cant manage their basic networks we drive instead. Takes us 10 minute more to drive, sans accidents.
Driving costs us in parking, 16.50 per day at Sky City or 17.00 per day at Wilsons (early bird rate).
Bought a Tesla so petrol is less of a concern, but some wear and tear.
In short it is insane that for people that work right smack downtown CBD its pricier to catch the bus than it is to drive. Thats incompetency is there ever was any.
Add on that we get penalised due to AT being stuck in their silos and considering Hobsonville /West Harbour West Auckland despite the only reliable commute to the CBD is Bus 12/NX when you live here. These days (at least) they say we have the option of taking Bus 12 / WX, however for most that dont have complete flexible hours thats not an option since WX can take anything from 30 – 90 minutes depending on the traffic and how many cars thats in the buslane / if an accident etc). WX isnt an option/nor does its buses connect with 12, hence we get financially and timewise penalised by the beloved AT who cant arrange a system that looks counts the fare based on where we boarded/departed the bus. Madness and another sign of AT complete incompetence.
Don’t worry, this will be remedied, and not through PT becoming cheaper. Both RUCs and congestion charging combined along with worsening congestion will make PT the better option in a few years.
You need to properly calculate the cost of using your car. You haven’t used capital cost of the car and it’s depreciation. Insurance, maintenance etc.