Business View Oceania

6 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 12 Also, given that this uplift applies to Council-run services including school services, but not Ministry of Education ones, a driver can receive wildly different rates for exactly the same job. over with public transport, which means drivers can share the same depots. We are already hearing reports of school bus drivers threatening to leave if their urban colleagues receive considerably more per hour. Also, given that this uplift applies to Council-run services including school services, but not Ministry of Education ones, a driver can receive wildly different rates for exactly the same job. What concerns us is the message that now appears to have been sent out- that Ministry of Education funded school bus drivers are not worth as much as public transport driver or Council-funded school bus drivers, and that our kids aren’t as important as commuters. “There are driver shortages in three sectors: Public Transport, School, and Tour and Charter services. We know that the Ministry of Education is looking into school bus services, and we continue to work with them to find a solution. But we need to move faster and align with public transport, as the wage disparity in some regions is already creating further instability in the bus industry. There are already challenges with the availability of tour and charter bus drivers, and the New Zealand tour and charter bus industry’s capacity after the last two years is of little to zero income. These operators do not receive funding from the government at all. How can they afford to increase pay for their drivers? Will prices have to rise significantly? How will they cope with demand if they don’t have enough drivers? We are already seeing an impact on our cruise ship sector from the lack of tour coach availability for day trips. This is a fantastic start, and it’s great that our government is taking tangible steps forward. We have started the journey, but there is still a long way to go. We look forward to working with all parties to resolve this problem once and for all.” For further reading on this issue, visit the Bus and Coach Association New Zealand’s website: https://www.busandcoach.co.nz/ NISTER’S ANNOUNCEMENT ON dependent on councils being able to provide local shares into the funding, which may be problematic for smaller and regional/remote councils. Inconsistency in driver shortages across regions may mean select councils do not feel the need to take up funding at all, Mr. McFagden explains. “This could create a lot of inconsistency around the country. There is also an elephant in the room, being Ministry of Education funded school bus services, which are not included in any funding increase. The school bus sector crosses