New Zealand Transportation Agency Aims to Cut Staff Travel Costs

The agency running Auckland's public transport is spending more than NZ$100,000 a year for staff to travel in taxis and private vehicles between its two main offices, according to a report by Radio New Zealand News.

The agency wants to cut 20 cars from its fleet and reduce the amount of money paid to staff using taxis or their own cars between the Henderson and downtown offices, according to the report.

It is spending more than than NZ$120,000 trialing a shuttle to carry staff between the sites. The offices are connected by direct train and bus services but a paper released to Radio New Zealand shows Auckland Transport did not consider public transport when it set up the service.

The third and final stage of the trial in September and October, would be accompanied by a ban on staff being able to claim for use of their own vehicles, according to the report.

The Auckland Transport paper supporting the decision to introduce a shuttle, shows that the agency spends NZ$237,500 a year reimbursing staff who use their own vehicles for business. A further NZ$75,000 is spent on taxis.The report further cited the paper supporting the plan as estimating NZ$95,000 of that can be saved, if staff stopped using their own vehicles shuttling between offices, and that NZ$15,000 could be cut from the taxi budget.

Auckland Transport says the 11-seater shuttle last month carried an average of almost two passengers per trip. It will make a decision on the shuttle in September or October.