Evening services stripped back
When you think all is rosy and things are on the up after the Auckland Transport Alignment Program marking the fundamental shift in transport policy we get something like this from Auckland Transport:
Auckland bus services
As part of a review of South Auckland bus services the following changes will be effective from Monday 21 May 2018.
Routes 360X and 374
These services will be discontinued.
Route 313 – Onehunga to Manukau Bus Station via Mangere and Papatoetoe
The following trips will be discontinued:
Monday to Friday
From Onehunga at 9.15pm, 10.15pm and 11.15pm
From Manukau at 10.00pm and 11.00pm
Saturday
From Onehunga at 7.45pm, 8.45pm, 9.45pm and 10.45pm
From Manukau at 7.30pm, 8.30pm, 9.30pm and 10.30pm
Sunday and Public Holidays
From Onehunga at 7.45pm, 8.45pm and 9.45pm
From Manukau at 7.30pm, 8.30pm, 9.30pm and 10.30pm
Route 361 – Manurewa Interchange to Otara/MIT via Mahia Rd
The following trips will be discontinued:
Monday to Friday
From Manurewa at 7.45pm, 8.45pm, 9.45pm
From Otara at 8.30pm, 9.30pm, and 10.30pm
Route 362 – Weymouth to Manukau Bus Station via Great South Rd
Monday to Friday
From Weymouth at 8.31pm, 9.31pm and 10.31pm
From Manukau at 8.05pm, 9.05pm, 10.05pm and 11.05pm
Route 366 – Manurewa Interchange to Manukau Bus Station via The Gardens
Monday to Friday
From Manurewa at 7.55pm, 8.55pm and 9.55pm
From Manukau at 8.25pm and 9.25pm
Find out specific timings on the timetables page.
…….
Source: https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/service-announcements/changes-to-south-auckland-bus-services/
I can understand the 360X disappearing as that was very lightly patronised for the distance it covered and was like the 374 (known as the ghost bus) added on as a Local Board last minute job without really thinking it through.
But for the rest we are stripping out evening services between a Metropolitan Centre, rail stations and an education hub (MIT). Given Southern Auckland has a high proportion of either shift workers or students and the incoming fuel tax (to pay for transit in the first place) cutting back evening services rather than trying to improve them (so they attract higher patronage) seems a very backwards step from Auckland Transport.
Apparently the reason for cutting the South’s services is to pay for the services on the Isthmus and North Shore:
They can’t afford the new network on isthmus or shore so are cutting services where they can (including in those networks). 360x cut isn’t terrible but don’t know enough about other routes
— Greater Auckland (@GreaterAKL) May 8, 2018
So because Auckland Transport has budget issues they are going to strip back the South’s bus services to pay for services further north. In other words the South loses out all the hard gains from the last five years owing to management failings?
When you have money being sunk into follies such as this New electric rideshare service coming to Devonport (in an area saturated with busses and easy to use cycle routes) I am wondering why when it has knock on consequences else where.
I thought we had gone from the era of penny pinching with public goods like transit.
Strip transit services from the poorest sub region (that can ill afford car travel) to fund services in the more wealthier sub regions (that have choices) Now where have we seen this before? It is called institutionalised racism!
Talking Southern Auckland 
I thought the idea of Public Transport was to provide a Service whereby those routes with lower patronage would be supported by the more popular routes. Too easy just to cut out the unprofitable routes and think your bottom line will improve, when history should tell them that this means that the whole system suffers and goes downhill. Have these decision makers ever run a normal business where their personal rewards result from business success? I doubt it!
They could probably cut the salaries of the top 100 employees and save enough money to run those North Shore buses and gate the north end of Papatoetoe Station