New Zealand’s public transport is constantly improving but still has a long way to go says Infrastructure NZ’s chief executive officer.
“I don’t think it’s good enough from a user perspective,” said Stephen Selwood on Wednesday.
“We’re constantly having to improve the system but any system like public transport where you’re using one [train] line any disruption is going to cause problems,” he told The AM Show.
Last week the derailment of a train in Wellington caused chaos for 20,000 commuters, and in June an electrical fault left all Auckland train services stopped dead in their tracks.
On top of these problems, Wellington buses are still struggling to recover from the 2018 contract switch which threw a number of services into disarray.
He says New Zealand’s issues aren’t special and problems with public transport are global.
The solution is more money – even though $4.5 billion has been given to improve Auckland’s central rail link.
But fixing “decades of underinvestment,” isn’t easy says Selwood.
“We do have to be patient, we are constantly improving but much more investment is required,” he said.
Selwood says the option of private funding should be investigated for roads and public transport.
“The whole transport system needs investment and we should be open to all possibilities [of funding].”
Newshub.