This is not supposed to be a cheerleader site for nakedbus.com, the new low cost city to city bus service in New Zealand, but I just wanted to express my thanks for the huge response to our launch. In the first two days we had over 3,000 visitors to the website, and the number is growing rapidly. People see to be staying on the site for a while, with users looking at 8 pages on average. So thanks again, and we look forward to helping you travel across New Zealand at low, low prices for years to come.

Well it has been a labour of love, but I am now proud to announce the arrival of the latest business venture I have been working on: nakedbus.com. Nakedbus is a new very low cost city to city bus service, with fares from $1 (plus 70c booking fee).

Initially we are concentrating on the North Island, but we will be expanding soon. In fact we will be adding Whakatane to Tauranga to our list of services next week!

So how can we offer $1 fares? First of all we have cut out the “frills” you don’t need, such as expensive terminals, paper tickets and agents. Second, not all our fares are $1 - As you get closer to the date of the travel, the fares rise modestly. However, I still think they are outrageously competitive - for instance - here are some average fares:

• Auckland to Hamilton - average fare only $10
• Rotorua to Auckland - average fare only $18
• Palmerston North to Wellington - average fare only $12
• Wellington to Rotorua - average fare only $30
• Taupo to Auckland - average fare only $23
• Auckland to Napier - average fare only $35
• Tauranga to Auckland - average fare only $19

But if you book early enough you will get $1 fares on every trip and every day. This is not just a launch gimmick!

If you register on the website you can email your friends from there also - that means you will get a credit every time one of your friends books as well, so you can save money even if you don’t travel.

So just go to nakedbus.com and register; maybe even buy a ticket if you feel like getting out of town. The majority of our services start on Monday 9 October - and they’re already starting to sell (but of course there will be more of the same the following week…)

But please tell other people so we don’t have to bump up ticket prices to pay for advertising!

All regulation has costs, but some costs are more predictable than others. As Alex Sundakov of Castalia pointed out over the weekend, the Commerce Commission’s decision to investigate Vector’s internal cross subsidy, imposes costs on the electricity industry. But it is not only the electricity industry where these changes hurt the businesses - and ultimately the consumers.

Clearly natural monopolies - and you can’t get much closer to a natural monopoly than an electricity lines company - requires regulation, but that regulation should be predictable.

Those proposing changes in the regulatory environment for bus services should bear that in mind. Otherwise it is the passengers, and ratepayers, who will pay.