Part 1: What we looked at and why
1.1
Auckland is New Zealand's largest city and home to more than a third of the country's population. Auckland Transport is a council-controlled organisation, responsible for public transport in Auckland.
1.2
Public transport benefits Auckland in many ways. It connects residents and visitors to their places of work and leisure, helps to reduce congestion for all road users, and reduces carbon emissions.
1.3
In 2023/24, about 87 million individual trips were taken on Auckland's buses, ferries, and trains. By 2031, Auckland Transport aims to almost double this number to provide 150 million trips on public transport each year.
1.4
In a 2023 survey from the Ministry of Transport, 43% of Aucklanders reported using public transport at some point in the previous 12 months. The reliability of public transport is an important factor in whether people choose to travel by bus, train, or ferry, and influences their satisfaction with it when they do use it.
1.5
Auckland Transport's research shows that the top three barriers to people using public transport are that it takes them too long to get to where they want to go, that they need to take multiple services, and that it is not reliable.
1.6
Many factors determine how reliable public transport is for passengers (such as access, scheduling, sense of safety, and transferring between services). In this report, we focus on timeliness and safety.
1.7
There is evidence that reliability has reduced throughout Auckland's public transport network in recent years. Covid-19, a shortage of bus drivers and ferry crew, and ongoing rail maintenance have all disrupted services, meaning more cancellations and reduced service levels at peak times and on main routes.
Why we did this work
1.8
Section 104 of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009 requires the Auditor-General to review the service performance of Auckland Council and each of its council-controlled organisations from time to time.
1.9
In terms of spending, Auckland Transport is the largest of Auckland Council's five main council-controlled organisations.
1.10
It is important that Parliament and the public have assurance about public transport services in Auckland, particularly given the level of recent disruptions. We considered that our work could also be useful for other organisations responsible for public transport networks.
What we looked at
1.11
We wanted to find out how well Auckland Transport is ensuring the reliability of buses, trains, and ferries in Auckland.
1.12
We wanted to answer two main questions:
- How effectively does Auckland Transport contribute to reliable public transport?
- How effectively does Auckland Transport report and communicate about the reliability of public transport services?
1.13
Our audit focused on Auckland Transport. However, the successful operation of Auckland's public transport network relies on a range of public organisations and private companies. We outline their roles and responsibilities in Part 2.
How we did our audit
1.14
We reviewed documents that Auckland Transport provided and some that were publicly available. These included strategy and planning documents, governance documents, process documents and policies, operator contracts, performance reports, project management reports, and minutes of meetings.
1.15
We interviewed staff at Auckland Transport from the public transport, customer service, and strategy and planning groups. We held a focus group with Auckland Transport's Whaikaha Public Transport Advisory Group, which advises Auckland Transport on accessibility matters. We also interviewed staff at Auckland Council, a selection of elected members and local board chairpersons, and spoke to officials from KiwiRail Holdings Limited (KiwiRail) and the New Zealand Police.
1.16
We analysed a range of data that Auckland Transport provided, including customer survey results and complaints data, information about schedule adherence and patronage, and other performance information.