Public transport funding has been cut in a fast-growing region where traffic congestion is a common complaint.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council sliced $3.87 million out of its public transport budget as part of its 2025/26 Annual Plan, with the Tauranga and Western Bay areas most affected.

The council made savings by cutting projects such as a Pāpāmoa park and ride trial, deferring plans to expand the bus network and removing or amalgamating some routes.

The cuts helped the council bring its general rates rise down to 3% from a forecast 8.2%, with targeted rates for transport services down 2%.

The public transport spend would be $56.6m.

Regional council public transport director Oliver Haycock said this was achieved by reviewing budgets, considering affordability concerns and adapting to changing economic conditions.

A reduction in the subsidy received from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) for public transport meant the council had to reassess its plans, he said.

The council requested $128m for public transport services from NZTA for 2024-27 but had $111.9m approved, leaving a $16.1m shortfall.

For 2025/26, the council would receive about $3.9m less in government subsidy for proposed improvement projects, Haycock said.

He said without the full subsidy, ratepayers would have had to pay for the projects, but the councillors decided this was not appropriate.

The council saved $1.4m by cancelling three key projects. These were:

A Pāpāmoa park and ride trial was cancelled saving $900,000. Photo / George Novak

The Pāpāmoa park and ride trial – a joint initiative with Tauranga City Council for an express peak bus service between a temporary parking facility in Pāpāmoa East and the city centre – saving $900,000.

Another $200,000 was saved by cancelling tertiary commuter services between Bay of Plenty urban centres because patronage was low and the NZTA funding was declined.

A feasibility study into the previous Government’s bus decarbonisation targets was no longer needed, which saved $300,000.

The council’s biggest savings of $3.7m came from moderating its approach to growth and finding efficiencies in the current network, Haycock said.

In April, bus routes 71 and 70 were amalgamated to create Route 7 and the outbound Route 52x in the morning was removed, due to “very low patronage”.

Councillors also approved funding to extend the On Demand bus trial in Tauranga South.

This meant the council achieved $3.87m in public transport savings, Haycock said.

The on-demand bus trial in Tauranga South was extended. Photo / Alex Cairns

The council’s long-term plan included funding to expand the bus network to support the “significant growth” in Tauranga and Western Bay, but the councillors decided general growth in the network could be deferred, he said.

Tauranga’s population growth averaged 2.0% a year over the five years to 2024, according to Infometrics data.

For the Western Bay of Plenty it was 2.4% a year over the same period, compared with 1.2% a year for New Zealand.

Haycock said there were no specific growth projects planned but the funding was earmarked to support the Connected Centres model set out in the Urban Form and Transport Initiative report.

The initiative focused on supporting liveable community outcomes and finding answers for housing capacity, intensification and multi-modal transport.

“At the heart of our transport network are the buses, routes and services that people in our region rely on every day. That isn’t going to change.

“Last year was a record-breaking year, with almost 3.4 million trips made on our networks across the Bay of Plenty.”

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Public Transport Committee chairman Andrew von Dadelszen said current bus services wouldn't be affected by the budget cut. Photo / Brydie Thompson

Regional council Public Transport Committee chairman Andrew von Dadelszen said the council did not reduce current services.

“It’s not that we are doing less, it’s that we’re not doing more.”

The goal was to grow bus patronage and get “smarter” with how the council delivered services, he said.

He had a vision for an orbiter service that ran a central route through Greerton, Cameron Rd, the city centre and Mount Maunganui, with smaller buses servicing the suburbs from this route.

There would be costs involved because interchanges would be needed for people to transfer buses, but von Dadelszen believed it would be more efficient than running big buses on routes with low patronage.

Wednesday Challenge national project co-ordinator Heidi Hughes said public transport budgets should grow with cities. Photo / George Novak

Wednesday Challenge national project co-ordinator Heidi Hughes said public transport budgets should be growing with an area.

This was difficult for councils because of the reduced government funding, she said.

“They wouldn’t have made such drastic cuts if it hadn’t been that the government policy statement completely changed the emphasis from public transport to allocating funding to roads.”

The Wednesday Challenge encourages people to not use cars for their Wednesday commutes.

Public transport funding needed to be prioritised, but the regional council needed support from the Government and city and district councils that managed the bus stops, Hughes said.

“Councils should be prioritising it, especially with a growing city.”

She said more greenfield development, combined with restricting public transport finance, would “end up creating more congestion and worse outcomes in the future”.

Denser development should be encouraged instead of urban sprawl, she said.

Traffic congestion was behind only crime in the top complaints of Tauranga residents polled in the 2024 Quality of Life Survey. It was a concern for 43% of respondents, higher than in the other eight areas surveyed.

Perceptions of public transport also generally ranked lower in Tauranga than other main centres.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.