Open Letter to Metlink re: Your Bus Network Facebook Live Sessions

Lim from Northland

Dear Metlink: On Our Way ,

First of all, I applaud Metlink’s effort in engaging the community on the new bus network problems. I have a few suggestions which I would like to make, and I hope it will make the Facebook Live sessions more constructive and meaningful for all parties.

For nearly 4 years, thousands of commuters have written to Metlink/GWRC regarding the proposed new bus networks. Many of us had also attended numerous public meetings. However, the strong feeling that we have as a Wellington community is that we have been ignored all along and instead Metlink listens to consultants.

I hope Metlink is aware that people are very sceptical about any Metlink consultation sessions. Since the new network has gone live on the 15-July, people are wasting hours of their time (often daily) coping with the new dysfunctional network. Parents are in worse position of having to cope their own transport problems and school buses problems as well.

The time of just talking about the problems is well and truly over. We as a community want to see a concrete action plan on how the problems can be fixed promptly. The problems with the new network are well understood and can be summarised below:

• Excessive delays in getting to the destination
• Severe overcrowding during peak time
• Lost of direct routes and multiple transfers required to get to the destination adding to the delay. Commute time is now taking 2 – 3 times as long.
• Missing buses
• Ghost buses and unreliable Real Time Information
• Some routes are now missing in the new network

I would also encourage Metlink to share the many feedback which you have received since going live and all the historical feedback regarding the new network. The art of listening is to play back concerns which have already been provided by thousands of people recently and historically.

To make the Facebook Live sessions meaningful and constructive, I would like to suggest Metlink changing the sessions more to:

“This is what we will do given the feedback that we have already received for these suburbs and this is the timeframe that we will work to”

Anything less than what I suggested above is not going to address people’s scepticism that Metlink is consulting in good faith this time. I look forward to hearing from you.



Yours sincerely,

Lim Leong