Wellingtonians say public transport has got a lot better

Wellingtonians have voted a big lift in their satisfaction with public transport in 2015/2016 and a steep increase in train customers over this period backs this up.

"We're completely focused on providing a service that customers want to use and these figures tell us this is working," says Paul Swain, Greater Wellington Regional Council's public transport portfolio leader.

"We are delighted that more public transport customers have told us they satisfied with their journey, the network and the facilities. We are particularly happy that more people would now recommend public transport to their friends."

The survey found increases in overall satisfaction with:

• The journey was up 4 percent to 93 percent
• The stations, bus stops and wharves was up 3 percent to 93 percent
• The public transport system was up 5 percent to 88 percent.

It also found that 89 percent of people would likely recommend public transport to others, an increase of three percent with the 2014/2015 survey. (Links to the survey below).

Customers took 700,000 more train trips around the region in 2015/2016 than the previous year - 12.1million up to 12.8million.

"Customers taking an extra 700,000 trips this year is another strong indication of satisfaction with public transport" says Mr Swain.

"People are clearly enjoying the new Matangi trains. We have five more Matangi units arriving in September to provide extra capacity to deal with the demand.

"Our new partnering agreement with train operator Transdev is focused on further improving customer experience, and it will be easier to park at a station with 6000 dedicated parks across the region by the end of the year," says Mr Swain.

"There's no room to be complacent. Public transport has to keep improving and meet changing demands if people are going to choose it over their cars."

Mr Swain says the focus is now shifting to making the same improvements to bus services that have been made with trains.

"We're looking to make people's bus trips more punctual, reliable and regular, part of an easier, better and smarter public transport network for the region."

Background

The annual customer satisfaction survey is an annual requirement of the NZ Transport Agency, the Regional Council’s public transport co-funding partner.

The key questions and methodology are set by the Transport Agency to ensure results are comparable across regions and operators.

Gravitas Research and Strategy Limited were commissioned to develop and conduct the survey. Surveying took place between 3 and 29 May 2016.

Almost 2300 public transport users were surveyed on 206 trips on trains, buses and harbour ferries.

ENDS

Media contact: 021 914266.

/assets/Uploads/2016-368.pdf (PDF 34 KB)

/assets/Uploads/2016-368a1.pdf (PDF 571 KB)

/assets/Uploads/2016-368a2.pdf (PDF 69 KB)