Bay of Plenty Regional Council cuts $3.87m from public transport budget

Source: Bay of Plenty ·SunLive,  Alisha Evans, 27 Aug, 2025

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:

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

Market winners & losers after six months of extreme volatility

Although a sense of relative calm has returned to markets after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, they remain volatile after six months of volatility

The first half of 2025 has been marked by extreme volatility in global markets, primarily influenced by geopolitical events and economic policy shifts. Early in the year, US missile attacks on Iran caused a brief surge in oil prices, sparking fears of instability in the Middle East. However, a ceasefire brokered by the US between Israel and Iran helped calm markets, resulting in a 12% drop in oil prices, marking the biggest weekly fall since March 2023.

US markets saw dramatic swings in sentiment, with a sharp decline in stock values following President Trump's aggressive tariff announcements, but the subsequent pause in tariff implementation led to a strong recovery. The S&P500 closed at a new all-time high by mid-year, though the NZX50 remained down 3.7%.

The year began with optimism, fuelled by expectations of tax cuts and pro-business policies under Trump's re-election. However, markets were rattled by trade tensions and fears of a global recession, leading to a 20% drop in the S&P500. Despite this, investor sentiment improved as the US economy remained resilient, with a focus shifting to AI and growth.

On the commodity front, gold and Bitcoin were among the top performers, gaining 24.2% and 14.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, oil prices fell by 10.1% amid easing concerns about global supply disruptions. The US dollar experienced its largest drop in years, down 10.4%, with international sentiment toward the dollar weakening.

In New Zealand, the local market saw strong performances in sectors like agriculture, horticulture, and seafood. Companies such as A2 Milk, Sanford, Fonterra, and Turners Automotive delivered solid returns. However, the construction, retail, and hospitality sectors faced challenges, with companies like Ryman Healthcare and KMD Brands suffering significant losses.

The outlook for the second half of the year remains uncertain, with ongoing concerns about US debt, trade policies, and the sustainability of global economic growth.

WHY 2025 BUDGET IS SO WELCOME

Finance Minister Nicola Willis

A lot of people are talking about how small this Budget seems — with only $1.3 billion in new spending, it's the smallest in decades. But that misses the bigger picture. When you add up all the actual decisions, like changes to tax credits and more money for learning support, the government is really spending about $6.7 billion a year. That’s a huge amount — possibly even more than what Labour spent in some of their recent budgets.

What’s different this time is where the money is coming from. About $4.8 billion was found by cutting spending in other areas and redirecting it. Around $600 million is from new fees or charges, and only $1.3 billion is borrowed. That’s a big change from the last Labour Government, where Grant Robertson borrowed more to pay for new spending - and what's more it was the lack of accountability that drove hugely wasteful spending that actually achieved very little.

Personally, I much prefer paying for priorities by cutting wasteful spending rather than by borrowing huge amounts of money.