When Keolis Downer's tenure running Newcastle's public transport was announced in 2016, the company's chief executive at the time Campbell Mason was both optimistic and pragmatic about the challenge ahead.
"The investment in light rail will breathe new life into the CBD and a more reliable and efficient public transport system will create a network that is attractive to new users," he said.
"It's important that we get this right because the decisions we make now will drive the success of local businesses, tourism and the character of the city.''
Unclear at the time was that a global pandemic stretching years was around the corner that would force workplaces to adjust and, as a result, potentially deliver new trends in how people move to and from work and around their cities.
What is abundantly clear from statistics reported in this newspaper is that patronage has not grown over the past three years. In fact, it appears in freefall.
Opal card data for the light rail that gave Mr Campbell such hope for the city's network shows the number of average monthly passengers has tumbled from 103,000 to 61,500 from 2019 to 2022 respectively.
Few would argue that the figure bodes well for the service, even with the caveats and justifications that underpin it. Light rail certainly had its share of critics during planning phases who are equally unlikely to be won over. Perhaps most crucially, though, is the fact these figures will almost certainly put the brakes on whatever plans to expand the service beyond Wickham's interchange may be in motion.
Governments must decide how best to use limited resources, and falling patronage makes it all the harder to sell the idea that the Hunter needs more investment in public transport versus areas where peak hour services are busy. While the Hunter trends match those elsewhere in the state, the political reality is that the business case for action in this region must be ironclad before the dollars emerge. The torpedoed cruise ship terminal, for one, and silence from leaders on Broadmeadow's Hunter Park are testament to that.
Many will say they would use the services if they were more frequent, on different routes or overall more convenient. Yet it is difficult to argue for more if you are failing to make the most of what you have.
ISSUE: 39,800
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