Public transport users face perhaps their toughest-yet “March Madness” peak with Auckland Transport conceding it has no reserves available to deal with the traditional surge in patronage.
The return of tertiary students and other factors has typically driven a spike of 1.5 million trips in March, requiring AT to pull-in extra buses to help cope with the surge which has left people at waiting at stops.
“We are struggling, there is no (bus) surplus right now,” said Richard Harrison, AT’s metro optimisation manager, of the plight it faces.
The first March Madness peak since years of Covid-19 disruption has collided with a shortage of around 380 bus drivers, and two sections of the rail network being closed or constrained by track work.
