King Annette: Public Transport Management Bill — First Reading 
King Annette: Public Transport Management Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:642;Page:12363] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Transport) 
: 
 I move  
That the Public Transport Management Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Public Transport Management Bill be referred to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee for consideration that the committee report the bill on or before 14 March 2008 and that the committee have authority to meet at any time during a sitting of the House except during questions for oral answer during an evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 192 and 195(1)(b) and (c). 
 Today we face many challenges—global warming is a reality and there is a looming peak oil crisis. We need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to look at ways to improve the sustainability of our transport system. If we want New Zealanders to move towards sustainable transport then we must create a public transport system that is a realistic alternative to private car use. Therefore it is essential that New Zealand’s public transport services are integrated accessible safe responsive to change and above all economically socially and environmentally sustainable. 
The current legislation governing public transport—the Transport Services Licensing Act 1989—does not deliver this. This Act was created at a time when the priority was to reduce the cost to Government and to maximise the role of the private sector in providing public transport. Thus we have a two-tier system of passenger transport services. They are services contracted by the regional councils with financial assistance from central government and non-contracted services provided at the operator’s own initiative which are funded by fares and advertising revenue and which must be registered with the regional council. The bill calls these services commercial public transport services. 
Under the current legislation councils have limited grounds to decline the registration of commercial public transport services. Once a service is registered the councils have no information on usage other than that provided on a voluntary basis by cooperative operators. Regional councils also have limited influence on the quality of the service and the vehicle standards offered to the public. The lack of information about and influence over commercial public transport services has frustrated the ability of some regional councils and Land Transport New Zealand to create an integrated safe accessible responsive and sustainable public transport system. 
There is growing recognition of the important role of public transport in the wider transport system—particularly in our biggest city Auckland. It is critical that we create a world-class public transport system. This bill will help to do that and it is the result of an extensive review and consultation process prompted by concerns about Auckland’s public transport. But let me make it clear: all regions and all councils stand to benefit from this bill. 
This bill is about giving the Auckland Regional Transport Authority and all regional councils throughout the country the tools to create a better public transport system. We are not telling them how to run their public transport but we are saying that different regions have diverse needs and that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. This bill will enable councils to do what is needed where it is needed. It allows them to have a greater influence over commercial bus and ferry services and ensures better integration of services and modes. 
The bill will allow regional councils to set fair notice periods for commencing varying and withdrawing commercial public transport services. The legislation will give regional councils time to respond to change and will ensure the continued delivery of services to their communities. The bill will also enable regional councils to impose other controls on commercial public transport services. These will need to be no more onerous than conditions within contracts to provide similar services. The controls will allow a regional council to access more information from commercial public transport services—like detailed patronage information. This will assist in better public transport planning and will help to ensure that the overall public transport network is providing value for money. 
Integration of the public transport network is a key aim of this Government and specific provisions to enable the integration of services ticketing and fares across a region are included in this bill. If regions choose to use this provision services will be scheduled to connect with each other. All operators will accept the same tickets and travelling on public transport will become much simpler. It is all about making the services more attractive and convenient for the passengers and about drawing new passengers on to the services. 
Quality and performance controls will give regions the scope to improve the responsiveness and sustainability of their public transport system. These controls will help the adoption of consistent environmentally friendly low-emission buses and ferries. The legislation will allow regions to impose consistent standards of accessibility including super-low floors for buses and other measures to assist in increasing mobility. The legislation will also assist in providing real-time information systems. Performance standards will help to ensure that there is more accountability and that services run on time and to a high standard. 
Under the current legislation a public transport operator can register some individual trips on a route as commercial giving them an advantage over other operators that wish to contract for the remaining services on that route. This frustrates true competition for those contracts. To address this issue controls will also allow the grouping of services requiring them to operate to frequency capacity and times specified in the regional public transport plan. 
Under the bill public transport operators will continue to have the right to provide commercial public transport services but they will be accountable to regional councils to comply with the requirements that the council has set after talking with the community. For a region to impose any of these controls they must be part of the regional public transport plan. The process for developing these plans will be clarified in the bill to ensure that the community and the stakeholders have input into a plan’s development and that the region’s public transport contributes to the integration safety responsiveness and sustainability of the wider land transport system. 
The bill allows Land Transport New Zealand to issue guidelines regarding the development of regional public transport plans and controls. Regional councils must take these guidelines into account to ensure that the plan identifies the transport needs of the region and that the scope and content of any controls contribute to the objectives of the bill. 
The bill will also provide for regulations to be made by the Governor-General to impose further conditions to introduce new types of control or to limit the scope of controls on commercial public transport services should this be necessary. I commend the bill to the House.