Positive changes aimed at making bus travel more efficient and accessible for users are in store for southern bus routes on Dunedin’s public transport network from July 1.

ORC chairman Stephen Woodhead said the changes affect routes servicing Abbotsford, Brighton, Fairfield, Green Island, and Mosgiel. They are the first of a series of changes to be progressively rolled out throughout the city network during the next few years.

The changes involve providing more direct routes, improving frequency, and having buses follow a single route for every journey on each service.

In the case of the southern routes, 238 extra bus services will operate between Abbotsford, Brighton, Fairfield, Green Island, and Mosgiel from July 1.

Buses departing on the hour will do so consistently, providing passengers with more certainty about departure and arrival times, including in the evenings and at weekends.

Of the 238 extra services, 130 will run to and from Mosgiel, 40 to and from Brighton, and 68 to and from Abbotsford. The extra Brighton and Abbotsford services include a late evening service on Fridays and Saturdays with Abbotsford also getting Sunday and public holiday services.

All services will be routed through Green Island, where existing stops will be enlarged to allow transfers between the Mosgiel and Brighton/Abbotsford services.

The transfer will be at the southern end of the Green Island central business district – ORC is working with the Dunedin City Council to finalise the exact location of a new superstop which will have improved shelter and bus user information.

From July 2016 all these routes will be serviced by new ‘kneeling’ low–floor, low emission buses which are currently being purchased by GoBus.

Mr Woodhead said the contract under which the new southern routes services will operate had been awarded after a competitive tender process to Go Bus Transport Ltd.

This tender process had enabled the starting date for some of the new services to be brought forward from 2019, he said.

Mr Woodhead said ORC would be publicising the changes throughout June and bus users would be given handouts explaining the changes.

A copy of the new timetable was currently being delivered to all Dunedin households and ORC’s Google Transit journey planner has also been updated to reflect the changes.

For more information contact

Political
Stephen Woodhead
Chairman
ORC
Ph 027 2801635

Operational
Wayne Scott
ORC director corporate services
Ph 03 474 0827 or 0274 327 224