King Annette: Public Transport Management Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
King Annette: Public Transport Management Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 02 September 2008. Volume:649;Page:18236. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Transport) 
: 
 I move  
That the Public Transport Management Bill be now read a second time 
. I would like to thank the members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee for their work on this bill and I fully support the changes that have been made to improve its workability. If we want New Zealanders to move towards a more sustainable transport system we must create a public transport system that is a realistic alternative to the use of the private car. It is therefore essential that New Zealand’s public transport services are affordable integrated accessible safe responsive to change and above all economically socially and environmentally sustainable. With the requirement to reduce our carbon emissions and with high oil prices there is a need to increase public transport provision. We are already seeing a rise in the number of people using public transport with approximately 32 percent more trips being taken on public transport in 2006-07 than in 2000-01. This bill will empower regional councils to better plan and manage public transport services. It will give them the tools to do what they need to when it is needed and where it is needed.  
More than 80 percent of services are contracted and subsidised by ratepayers and taxpayers. Councils set standards for these services but they cannot do so for the 20 percent of services that are run commercially at the operator’s initiative without a contract. These are called non-contracted services or commercial services. The bill would empower regional councils to impose controls on all commercial services. The current lack of control over and information about commercial services is hindering the ability of regional councils to achieve best value for money and to effectively plan and manage public transport services. It is critical that public transport services are effectively planned and managed to ensure value for money from the $909 million of ratepayers’ and taxpayers’ money that is forecast to be spent on public transport services in 2008-09.  
A wide range of submissions on the bill were received and a number of changes have been made in response. The most significant is the inclusion of an oversight mechanism to allow existing commercial public transport operators the right to appeal to the Environment Court against controls imposed by regional councils. A number of criteria for adopting controls and appealing against them have been added to the bill. This will help to ensure any controls set are justified. The bill also defines the transport-disadvantaged more clearly—not listing groups that may be transport-disadvantaged but focusing on what it means to be transport-disadvantaged.  
It has been made clear that accessibility standards for example requiring super-low bus floors may also be set. Accessibility standards for public transport services have been defined so that it is plain that accessibility is not just about being able to get on to the bus or ferry but also about having access to information identifying the correct service getting to and using seating and being able to get off the service in the right place.  
A number of provisions have been clarified and improved including setting out the development and content of regional public transport plans who must be consulted and when. New criteria for determining when the bundling of services is justified have been added. This bill will enable regional councils to set their notice periods for commencing varying and withdrawing commercial public transport services. The timing and process for decisions regarding registrations and deregistrations of service have been improved so notice periods can be extended while allowing operators a clear right to be heard.  
At present commercial services can be registered varied or withdrawn in 21 days. Operators can register some services as commercial if their tender for a contract is not successful or even while tenders are still being sought or register part of a timetable of services as commercial. This can inhibit competition for contracted services and give an operator a financial advantage for the contract of remaining non-commercial services in the timetable.  
This bill will give regional councils more time to respond to changes in commercial services and ensure continued delivery of services to their communities. The bill will enable regional councils to access more information from commercial public transport services such as detailed patronage information and this will help assist in better planning. Monitoring powers have been added so that regional councils can ensure that commercial services are meeting the standard set in their region. Requirements for providing information about commercial services have been improved so that regional councils can use this information for developing plans now rather than having to go through a complete planning process before being able to access this information. Where information is commercially sensitive requirements governing its release have been tightened so that such information will be protected unless there is an overriding reason not to do so.  
Regional councils will be able to set quality and performance standards. Quality standards have been defined and regional councils will be able to require the use of lower-emission buses and specify standards for such matters as accessibility comfort and customer service training. Performance standards will help to ensure that services are reliable and run on time.  
This bill will enable the integration of services ticketing and fares across a region. If regional councils choose to use this provision services can be scheduled to connect with each other. All operators will be required to accept the same tickets and travelling on public transport will be made a whole lot more simple. I would like to take this opportunity—[ 
Interruption 
] I beg the member’s pardon? 
Hon Bill English 
: You’ve got to be joking. It won’t be simple. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: The member has just said that it will not be simpler. I would say that he has never travelled on a bus because anybody who gets on a bus with one ticket then has to buy three or four more tickets to travel on a ferry a train and a different bus service finds it very difficult indeed. I say to the member that he should try using public transport in Auckland to see whether it is simple.  
I take this opportunity to signal my intention to introduce a Supplementary Order Paper. Given the recent passage of the Land Transport Management Amendment Act 2008 a number of minor and technical amendments are needed to align this bill with that Act.  
Once again I thank the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee for the work it has done on this bill and emphasise the importance of this legislation in enabling regional councils to effectively plan and manage public transport and respond to rising demands.  
This is a very good bill. It will certainly mean a lot to the passengers who travel on public transport. This bill is aimed at ensuring we have more people travelling on public transport than we currently do and to better integrate it to better align it and to give better standards. It will give consideration to those who are disadvantaged in terms of being able to travel and I believe that this bill will be widely accepted by the community. It provides options for regional councils; it does not impose them. It gives councils a range of tools that they can choose to use.  
I am surprised at the deputy Leader of the Opposition who is showing his ignorance in not having read the bill in not knowing what is in it and in not caring whether or not the travelling public of New Zealand have a better transport experience. We know that the National Party’s policy is to build toll roads at $50 a week rather than to provide more public transport for the people of New Zealand. We believe in better public transport and we have taken public transport expenditure now in conjunction with our ratepayers to close to a billion dollars which is up from the miserable $40 million a year spent by taxpayers and the National Government of the day. We are seeing real growth in public transport in New Zealand because of that commitment. I know that the Greens would like to see more. They will see more; public transport services will grow over the years. We will see that because of the ability to provide proper public transport services for passengers.