I have just been informed through the xtra website that stagecoach are planning more industrial action next week.

I am really pissed off about this.

The drivers, in my opinion are being selfish, how can stagecoach get more buses on the road if the drivers are constantly demanding higher pay.

Also I don't support unions.

They want a 16% pay increase, an interesting thing to note is that we are not actually told how much they are earning as it is and I think this is an important thing we should be informed about.

As far as we know they could be earning $30,000 a year in which case this pay increase is unreasonable.

I say good on stagecoach for not giving the 16% pay increase, stagecoach has agreed to 12%, that is 4 times what nurses and teachers get when they go for pay increases. The workers are being unreasonable and need to get a grip on reality. If I was at stagecoach I would be close to issuing warnings to the employees.

Having worked for them at one stage I would say about $15/hour max

I must add that this was 2 years ago... so it could be more or less at this point in time

That's heaps, that is mroe than most people. They should be grateful.

I've just been lsitening to newstalk zb, a driver rung and they are currently receiving $13.94 per hour and this pay increase would take them up to $15 per hour.

That isn't so bad.

yea.. i thnk it was something like high 13ens, you got that right.

But think about it , its quite a daunting task. Driving every single day of your life, 6am - 12pm - offcourse they probably have rotated roster to work on..andi think they do. But driving every day is just not on.

And I hate the fkin buslanes on Dominion Rd.... oh hh i hate them sooo very much.

But seeing that SJS is advertising to give $13 for a graduate or 3rd year student who can design a website etc... i would say $15 is great.

I actually think that their request is pretty reasonable.

And I don't think it's fair to compare the % increase they're requesting in their pay to the % increase given to nurses and teachers. Seeing as bus drivers earn a lot less than both nurses and teachers, wouldn't higher percentage increase in pay have less of an impact on their income?

ditto, see thats the way media presents the case and make it look one sided.

Yes but in the cases of nurses and teachers they are impacting on people's lives for quite some time. for nurses there are people's lives in their hands.
Not only this but both of these groups train for several years. As far as I am aware you just have to have a specific license in order to drive a bus, therefore anyone can do it. Not just anyone can be a teacher or a nurse.

For a job that doesn't require qualification it is a large amount of money, I work in an unqualified job for $12 per hour (including holiday pay).

I think it can also be argued that public transport, like health and education, is a valuable service too. And if bus drivers are providing this service, then don't they deserve recognition - in the form of a payrise - for it?

Anyway, I work part-time in a job that requires no qualifications and earn $16 an hour - and my job is a lot easier and cushier than a busdriver's.

Yes it is an important service but it is not an essential service, people can walk places and get fit that way.

Speaking of fitness, does anyone else watch that show eat yourself whole? I watch it was disturbed tonight to find out that fish n chips has 96 grams of fat, that is digusting.

as long as they dont push the monthly pass cost past $90 and i can still get to work i dont really care that much

I guess this argument will be one to come back to later. But anyway.

Yep, I watch it. Good show. I don't think she'll have any shortage of fatties to appear on her show in the near future.

Speaking of fatties appearing on her show in the near future, did you see that woman who'll be on next week? The one who weighs 170kg? Vomit.

I found that absolutely shocking. I honestly don't understand how people can be overweight and not exercise. It is relatively easy. If you notice though, and I don't wnat to be racist here, this is a fact, she was a pacific islander, 1) women carry more fat than men and 2) pacific islanders carry more weight and tend to be bigger than people of other races.

i am average but the show has really got me thinking about my food intake and the 10,000 steps thing has got me counting my steps sometimes and I might buy a pedometer. My flatmate knows, and used to work with Leon who was on the show. He works at the video store across the road.

Speaking of food, are places open tomorrow considering it is Good Friday? I know the supermarket won't be. You see I eat out all the time, healthy food of course and I have no food in my house.

This debate could keep going but it seems that everyone else thinks stagecoach drivers should be paid more and that I am alone in having no respect for stagecoach. Mind you, I already had issues with them, overcrowding of buses and not enough buses on the roads. I have rung 9 times and nothing is ever done. People's lives are being endangered through the overcrowding of buses and something needs to be done.

The arugment is old and tired, the auckland public system is incredibly bad, overcrowded, never on time, unreliable etc etc.

Actually Liz if the pay rise does mean that bus prices will go up then Ill take your side, its expensive enough as it is for such a shitty service.

I just wish Auckland would get a fuckin subway system or skytrain like Vancouver does.

Although this is borderline racist and carefully worded Im going to have to state that its in the forum rules that any remotely racist comments wont be tolerated, we need to attract members remember ;)

I suppose that when you're that big excercise is out of the question.

I think the show will be good like that - getting people to actually think about the revolting amounts of fat and sugar that they're eating. I think just watching the show gives you a pretty good idea of why so many New Zealanders are obese.

If you live near the city, I think the Imax building will be open, because there will be movies playing. There's a little foodcourt there with sushi and such. Other than that, I don't think there'll be much open, other than dairies and that sort of thing. No supermarkets and probably not many restaurants or cafes.

Yup, overcrowding on buses sucks, but I think it's the fault of the management at Stagecoach, not the actual busdrivers.

I was very careful about the way I worded it and stated the fact, it is also a fact that Asians are LESS likely to suffer obesity than other races.

Yes, it does show why 52% of people are obese. Nicky Hart is very right in the way she introduces peopel to healthy foods and that they stick to it. When you eat healthily for quite some time you begin to like it. I don't like how in some episodes she has told people they can still have mayonaise, mayo is disgusting taste wise and also fat wise.

I like the way she shows the sugar in its true form because there is no way that people would eat sugar just like that. I buy either sprite zero or orange juice but tonight Nicky said that orange juice is actually bad because you are getting too much vitamin c.

I am horrified that people actually eat like that, I mean it is about choices and will power. I am always pleased about the way that the people react after they have been introduced to healthy food.

I think, after watching the show, more passionately that places like mcdonalds should have a fat tax. It really is causing people harm and is going to be such a wake up call for many New Zealanders.

The problem however is that you then get the counter magazine articles or whatever saying that people are different shapes and sizes and that some people are naturally big. now I don't doubt this but it has been proven through research that people are getting bigger so regardless of hormonal issues, people should not be as big as they are.

I think bus drivers do a very under appreciated job.
The number of buses on the road, and the prices of the buses are not their fault. I think $15 an hour is reasonable for such a stressful job. Parking tickets and towaway companies (vultures) though this is another issue, back to parking tickets... Should not part of the money collected for parking tickets go towards improving th public transport system? Then there would be less reason for parking in the city and the cycle would improve. I heard that it is collected by Auckland city council and is completely seperate from the regional councils and land and transport stuff, who actaully look after the roads, and plan routes etc.

yeah, we need some sort of better equiped and managed rail system/ underground. and although it would cost alot and be very disruptive while it is built, the future of the city would be better with it.

hmmm, have you seen second or third generation chinese/NZ kids. I'd say the rate of obesity increases when they live their whole life here in NZ or the western world, eating the quintisential NZ diet of fish 'n Chips and Maccers. I totally agree with the fat tax... on fast food restaurants..., thus making such "fatty foods" more expensive than healthy foods- therefore it would be a "user pays" affair...

on the matter of transport I saw an article on a website last night that said transport is getting more money but it is in the manukau and northern regions of auckland. What about the people in the city, should the money not be disributed across each area?

Yes money from fines should go to improving public transport.

I think there should be road tolls in order to get cars off the road. I think maybe $3 each way and that money could also go to improving public transport.

well yes it is essential for many many people. I live in West Auckland, I cannot afford to run/own a car nor can I walk or even cycle (unless i want a 3 hr trip each way). I have no option but the bus, I find it hard to pay for the bus $49 a week (for 10 trips) and only working 1 day a week for minimum wage I have just over $20/ week to spend on myself, I also have other expenses such as cell phone, food and entertainment.

Okay, I will rephrase it.

public transport is exploited by several people, those who get buses to the next stop. I am not talking those who are elderly, I am talking about those who are young who can walk.

Now I have an idea to solve the obesity problem and the transport problem (this may create controversy but that is what I am best at).

If you live in a 20km radius of the central city and that is where you work then you are not allowed to take your car in, you are not allowed to get buses either or trains. It is very dictatorial which I am against but it would also get people off their asses and doing something physical.

That failing then I would increase rates.

In your case because you live so far away from the city transport is essential to you but people can walk 20 kms quite easily.

At night time i would permit those even within the 20km radius to take in cars and get buses because of safety reasons.

There really do need to be road tolls and I would like to see them enforced sometime in the next year but I don't see Hubbard doing so. He is a person with all these great ideas but implementing them is another story with him...

That's completely ridiculous. Do you have any idea how far 20km is?

Alright, 10kms.

Argh. 10kms is an huge distance to travel by foot. I think you're being completely impractical.

i dont think its much, 5kms then and that IS reasonable.

hmm, Normal walk speed is considered to be 4 km/hr (http://www.rideline.co.nz)... Using this as a guide, it would take 2-3 hours to walk 10-12 km.

I think walking anything more than 2km (half an hour) is a waste of time.

and this is why 52% of adults in New Zealand are overweight, that and eating badly.

I think this argument has gone so off track it's barely worth participating in anymore.

Woahhhhhh!!!!

20 Km.. thts HEAPPPPSS...


I live in Lynfield , and its about 13Km from my place to Shortland St CBD.

There is NO way im walking.

Lets put it this way.

Round the bays is 8.4Km run.
The earliest a person finished is about 26-30Minutes... and thats running with certain level of fitness, averaging about 3-4 Km / Minute.

There is NO way one can walk even 10 Km to work, Not ANY MORE (may be a century back was okay).

So you can imagin the time it would an average person to walk 10 Km -- I would say least 2.5 hours at constant pace. NOt to mention the sweat + the sore body + you gotta start work / lectures etc after that.

Currently, The bus that leaves my place gets to city before I do (on car) even If I leave 5 mintues earlier as compared to the bus. Thats 13Km - keep that in mind.
It takes approx 15 minutes to get to Crossing of Mt Albert and Dominon Rd. Another 5-10 minutes from there to Crossing of Balmoral and Dominion rd (now i DO use the bus lanes at times so my figures are quick). From the crossing of Balmoral and Dominon rd to D47 - where the short highway starts - it takes a woOping 20-30minutes --- WHY.. coz of the fckin BUS LANES.
Remember the same bus that I over took earlier on, well it crosses me here and gets to Queen St, while im stuck on Dominon Rd coz some Kunt has a video cam snipping poor car drivers.

Its not like we dont have deadlines to meet. I'm seriously considering gettin a bus pass and use it... but having spent my uni life on the bus , i DONT want to use bus again.

So what the heck can we do...

1) Either have MORE buses going at frequent intervals - especially in the morning time say 7-930am.
By that I mean, bus travelling to city every 15 minutes interval.

I mean most of the time the fckin bus lane is empty, but no one can use it cox of the fckin guy with the camera (its a $150 instant fine). What a rip off.

2) Actually yea, i think having more buses at frequent intevals will help a lot. I would certainly use the dammn thing then.

This also applied when travelling back from city, 430 - 630pm mark.


I thnk i better stop bychin now.

arrgh .. farkkk

I should have read the whole topic, would have saved me the hassle of repeating that 20km or 10km or 5km is NOT practical.

I wouldn't mind travelling up to 2km max.

Oh and NZers are obese cos of what they eat.

I;ve seen lots of ppl who are quite active and yet obease. Why, its coz they eat shyt - im lovin it.

You are what you eat - that is very true... believe me I know.

5ksm is quite reasonable, that is about 45 minutes of working, that is how fast I have done it. I live 5kms from the university. I think it would be an excellent idea.

I think I may start doing it actually from now on, just to prove how silly I am at times and how much of a political point I wish to make.

Yes more buses on the roads would be great but they are never going to get that if the companies are constnatly spending money on increasing the drivers rates.

^ good on ya.... then try it in winter, under the rain i'm certain you will reconsider 5km walk option then.

I'll ask you again how that's going in the middle of the cold dreary winter... :P

Okay, guess its time to invest in an umbrella.

Do you hvae any 8am lectures :P

nope all my classes start either at 11am, 12pm or 2pm.

I also don't have classes on Wednesdays or Fridays.

That is why I get all of this week off. (I think)