Nikky Kaye MP to present C4FFF Accountability Petition to Parliament (updated)

This Monday 29 June, Campaign for Fare Ferry Fares (C4FFF) will be presenting Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye with a petition signed by more than 500 people, calling for accountability on the Matiatia to Auckland ferry route that is currently operated by Fullers (Souter Holdings).
Nikki Kaye will be meeting with C4FFF on Monday and has agreed to present the petition to parliament on behalf of her constituents, as part of the discussion on the Public Transport Management Act.
The petition, now signed by more than 1000 people, calls for a mechanism of accountability so that fares cannot be raised without consultation with the governing transport authority, and for regulation or fair competition on the Matiatia to Auckland route.
C4FFF spokesperson Dr Cathy Urquhart says with the review of the Transport Management Act looming, this is a key moment to request regulation or accountability of some kind before more residents are forced to leave the island.
‘Our long term future is at stake each time diesel goes up. Our economy is deeply affected by who can afford to commute and live here, and who can afford to visit. Should the future of our ferry link to the CBD be in the hands of an unaccountable monopoly? No! Let’s get some accountability into the equation, before our Waiheke community loses the diversity we treasure so much.’

C4FFF members will also travel in person to Wellington to talk to members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee when the Public Transport Management Act goes under discussion later this year – presenting the petition on behalf of the signatories gives them this opportunity to speak.

Red hot deals

Amazing how precarious island life is when one of its key infrastructure elements is taken out of action for a length of time. Last Saturday night the Woolworths supermarket suffered fire damage to the extent that the supermarket will be closed for at least 2 to 3 weeks and will not be fully operational, like, probably ever or before a new one is built in Ostend in about 2 years' time.
It is of course hardly a civil defence emergency, and various other market players have stepped up to fill the market demand for shopping services, including Woolworths itself, which is for the first time offering online shopping to Waiheke (the island being the only area in New Zealand deprived from such service before - you could get your groceries delivered to Stewart Island but not Waiheke). The other online shop, FoodDirect, is island-run.

The transport companies are doing their bit too, with Sealink's fortuitous June $50 open return offer (unrelated to the fire) now extended for July too.
Fullers is doing a shopper's fare too (a reduced fare return for the 10am to 3pm sailings, with a free shuttle to the supermarket thrown in). I can't actually find that deal on the Fullers website but it's mentioned in a NZ Herald report. It is also unclear whether this shoppper's fare will be retained now that the supermarket has reopened.

Amazing what competition can achieve.

UPDATE: Now that the Woolworths supermarket has partially reopened the internet service has been cancelled by Woolworths.

Integrated ticketing: still a distant dream

From Computerworld / Stuff:

Auckland local authorities have trimmed the budget for a new integrated ticketing system for local transport and now plan to borrow to fund the project.
Yesterday, the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) decided to borrow $15 million and deliver what its chairman, Mike Lee, descibes as an "economy model" integrated ticketing system to allow commuters to travel across the city on different modes of transport with a single ticket.
However, the plan still depends on further funding being granted by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).
"We're putting the ball back in the government's court."

This is an issue that even a super-city structure will have trouble with setting up, implementing and running, given the balkanised set up of public transport systems in Auckland.
Tha aim of an Auckland Oyster Card should be: all systems, all passengers, all times, all routes, all areas. And to include all Waiheke public transport.

The London Oyster card, as an example, isn't perfect in all these aspects either: National Rail surface trains are excluded from the system (with a temporary exemption over the coming days as the London Tube will be on strike)

Fullers to buy Kawau Kat Cruises

Fullers is looking to expand its reach over the harbour ferry business by buying its competitor in the commuting, cruising and touring business. Kawau Kat Cruises offers services from the CBD to Gulf Harbour and Coromandel, apart from tourist cruises to Kawau and Tiri Tiri Matangi.
The National Business Review reports that:

Fullers Group has now lodged a clearance application with the Commerce Commission to buy Kiwi Kat Ltd, which operates Kawau Kat Cruises.

The consolidation in the ferry business continues apace with this further setback to any possibilities of ever getting a viable competitive service.
Let's see whether the Commerce Commission is more than a rubber-stamping watchdog.

Waiheke island public transport survey

The Campaign 4 Fair Ferry Fares has launched a public survey to gauge usage and opinion of the various public transport modes and infrastructure available to them.
The survey is anonymous and open to anyone who uses Fullers, Waiheke Bus Company and the wharves.

Please feel free to take the survey via this link.

Give us cake or we'll take the bus instead

Half Moon Bay Fullers ferry users group (HMB FUG) were treated to an afternoon of cake and cruise to celebrate 10 years of ferry linking between the eastern suburbs and the CBD.
A report from the Howick & Pakuranga Times:

More than 100 guests boarded the ferry for a celebration cruise organised by the Half Moon Bay Ferry User Group in conjunction with Fullers.
The afternoon was spent sailing to the southern end of Waiheke Island and back to Motutapu, where passengers disembarked to visit the Reid Homestead. A barbecue on board followed and an anniversary cake was cut.
Since the first sailing by City Cat, patronage has grown to the point where most peak-time commuter sailings are close to capacity, says Cheryl Williams who chairs the ferry user group.
The group was formed in collaboration with Fullers in 2006 in response to the need to deal with matters relating to the service.
As a result the group has successfully campaigned for the installation of a shelter, improved car park lighting and the continued service by Fullers.

A monthly pass costs $226 for Half Moon Bay. The distance travelled isn't much less than to Waiheke but a Waiheke pass costs almost 50 per cent more (inclusion of Stagecoach bus service is irrelevant as Half Moon Bay passengers can buy a Howick & Eastern monthly all-zone bus pass for $159 instead and be done with the ferry). The Half Moon Bay service attracts an ARTA subsidy.
So congratulations on the Howickeds and Pakurangutans for their affordable service, not least the successful ARTA screwing down the subsidy demanded by Fullers last year.
Now where is our cake (and affordable fare to go with it)?

Monopoly power horror

This caught my eye in the news today, from the NZ Herald:

The Commerce Commission released its long-awaited report into the electricity market.
It concluded each of the four big generators - Meridian, Contact, Genesis and Mighty River - has been exercising the power the market's design gives them to command unjustifiably high prices, at least during years when inflows to the hydro lakes are low as they were in 2001, 2003 and 2006.
But this did not amount to a breach of the Commerce Act, the commission said. It was a lawful and rational exploitation of the opportunities the market gave generators and they would not be hauled before a court. [...]
Residential power prices rose by two-thirds between 2000 and 2007, or 5 per cent a year faster than general inflation

It would be easy to substitute the company names with the company that holds a monopoly position on the Auckland - Waiheke run, and come to the exact same conclusion - which the Commerce Commission actually did when asked about monopoly practices by Fullers a few months ago, giving it a clean bill of health since "it was a lawful and rational exploitation of the opportunities the market gave" Fullers.
And it is interesting to see that monopoly pricing behaviour is following a general pattern: that sweet spot you are striving towards as a company when you can charge more than general inflation.
To quote Milton Friedman (lest you want to accuse me of leftwing bias):

Monopoly implies absence of alternatives and thereby inhibits freedom of exchange. Monopolies exist because of failure to create a "real" free market, because of "market inefficiency". Dynamic changes are highly likely to undermine monopoly and there is at least some chance that these will be allowed to have their effect."

Public meeting aftermath

A productive and informative meeting was held at the Ostend Hall last Saturday on the transport issues on the island, prompted by a good amount of activism, animosity and law changes over the past 6 months.
Good to see a big variety of people and organisations represented, including FUG, Waiheke Bus Co and Sealink, despite a dearth of politicians and policy makers. A big boo to ARTA for not showing up. As the public transport regulator in Auckland it should be their priority, being at the heart of the problems and the solutions, to step up.
A wide variety of topics got briefly discussed or mentioned or debated and it was hardly a "Fullers-bashing" session some have described it as, and who probably were never there. Despite there being no-one from Fullers, I'm sure they got a detailed briefing on what was said by whom.

The next steps for C4FFF is to get the petition to the ARTA and parliament to get things moving under the Public Transport Management Act.
And the survey, which is still available for responses (see link in the blog item at the top of this page) and which will be collated and analysed for public use.
It is shaping up to be an interesting mine of suggestions, criticism and praise, and we won't be shy to share them with the ferry operators, regulators and the media in due course

Former Gulf News editor dies

From the NZ Herald:

An Auckland man who jumped from the Devonport Ferry on the North Shore on Sunday afternoon has died in hospital.
He has been named as Simon Johnston, 53.
Mr Johnston rushed through an exit door and attempted to jump off the ferry, back onto the wharf, while it was leaving the terminal shortly before 4.30pm on Sunday, witnesses told police.
A Fullers crewman alerted the rest of the crew, then put on a lifejacket and jumped into the water to help.
Mr Johnston was rescued from the sea by the Coastguard and resuscitated, before being taken to North Shore Hospital for treatment to a head injury.
Police interviewed a number of passengers and witnesses at the terminal who confirmed the man was a ferry passenger who had attempted to jump to the wharf.

Simon was until last year the editor of the Waiheke Gulf News, and you can read a selection of his work on the Gulf News website. He was also an accomplished musician who often, after a hard day's work, played his guitar at many Waiheke social events and venues.
If you have any particular memories of Simon, you can share them on his Waihekepedia page.

C4FFF petition

Community Consultation for future fare rises is a must!

Make Fullers Accountable to ARTA and the Waiheke Community.

Future ferry and bus fare increases are going to affect working families, students and all members of the Waiheke community who commute or travel to and from the city. Will you be consulted about the next fare rise? No! Will it affect your life? Yes! Should the future of our ferry and bus link to the CBD be in the hands of an unaccountable monopoly? No!’

We the undersigned, call for the following:

1) A mechanism of accountability to be put into place so that Fullers cannot raise our ferry and bus fares without consulting ARTA or the governing transport authority and the community of Waiheke

2) Regulation or fair competition on the Fullers ferry route

3) Affordable and sustainable public transport for Waiheke for the future

NAME: ADDRESS/PHONE/EMAIL: SIGNATURE:

• 
  

• 
  

• 
  

• 
  

This petition is supported by the Campaign 4 Fair Ferry Fares and the Better Bus Action Group.
If you want to help us collect signatures please print out this petition.