Auckland Transport’s decision to remove frequently cancelled bus services from its timetables to give public transit users “more certainty” has been called a cynical and terrible move for passengers.

AT admitted the cuts were “not the answer” to ongoing service disruptions and would limit the growth of public transport use. The Public Transport Users’ Association has lambasted the organisation’s failure to ensure buses would turn up as scheduled.

An ongoing shortage of bus drivers has meant AT hadn’t been able to deliver the full scheduled service for “some time now,” AT’s group manager of Metro Services Darek Koper said.

“This year we have struggled to operate our full bus timetable because of the effects of the national driver shortage, which has led to far more cancellations ... than we would usually see,” he said.

Auckland Transport is removing frequently cancelled bus services from its timetables. Photo / Michael Craig

Ongoing and regular bus cancellations have frustrated passengers since April. Koper said the timetable changes, in effect from Sunday November 6, would reduce any further cancellations and give passengers more certainty when planning their trips.

AT was unable to disclose which routes and services would be impacted when asked by the Herald.

The Public Transport Users’ Association co-ordinator Jon Reeves said, “it seems like AT is just trying to cover their derrieres to make their statistics and data look better by simply wiping off scheduled services they couldn’t deliver and then saying that 100 per cent of [scheduled buses] turn up.

 “I would suggest it is a cynical move, and it’s certainly not in passengers’ favour. AT is there to deliver a service, and they’re failing when the buses aren’t even turning up.”

Koper said, “we’re not taking anything away that’s currently running. We are just temporarily removing them in the timetable, so they won’t show up and then appear as cancelled. We are still running 12,000 bus trips a day and we’re working on adding services back to our timetables as soon as bus operators can recruit more drivers.”

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 “There have been some positive movements around bus driving as a vocation, benefiting both existing drivers and supporting recruitment drives. With funding support from Auckland Council and Waka Kotahi, there has been two recent increases in base remuneration for drivers with a further increase through government funding.”

Yesterday, the Government announced it is spending $61 million to lift bus driver wages to address nationwide worker shortages that have seen massive service disruptions across the country.

Transport Minister Michael Wood said the money - allocated in this year’s Budget - would be spent over four years to lift base wage rates towards $30 an hour for urban services and $28 an hour for regional services.

Wood said there were about 800 drivers needed across the country.

AT needed 500 of those drivers to meet the shortfall. Recruitment of drivers in east Auckland had already enabled a return to full timetabled services since their removal there in May.

Koper thanked customers for their patience and ongoing support for public transport “during these difficult times”.

This decision comes ahead of a year of major disruption on the southern, eastern, and Onehunga rail lines which would see buses replace trains amid the major $330 million Rail Network Rebuild.