We hope you have a happy and safe holiday period and a Meri Kirihimete.

What have we achieved?

• We opened the Bus Hub, which has become the heart of the network.
• We set up our dedicated Orbus button on My Little Local, the Dunedin news and events app. Thousands of users now find information and timetables more easily via their phone. We also gave away hundreds of dollars’ worth of prizes during the My Little Local Orbus competition.
• We launched the Driver of the Month initiative, asking you, the passengers, to recognise drivers for the wonderful work they do getting us around.
• We got to know you better, heading out to more community board meetings and user group meetings than ever before.
• We’re working even closer with Dunedin City Council (DCC) and the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) in a partnership called Connecting Dunedin for more connected transport planning.
• And we increased patronage.

What does 2020 hold for us?

Next year, bus users can look forward to:

• Real-time tracking for Orbus
• A new smart card system, called the Bee Card, that will enable you to tag on and off the bus, and top up online.
• We will release the draft of our Regional Public Transport Plan for public feedback.
• Some design changes to our maps and our timetables so they’re easier to read.
• Tweaks to the network based on your feedback.
• Continued work as part of Connecting Dunedin for improved future transport planning, for example easier access to major city events. See below.

New Year’s Eve Free buses after the concert

We’re very pleased to announce that Orbus is supporting the Dunedin City Council’s New Year’s concert in town with free buses.

ORC is providing, free of charge, two late night services at 12:30am and 1:30am, running three special event loops covering North Dunedin, South Dunedin and Mosgiel. The routes will be publicised closer to the event.

Orbus holiday services

Please remember that Orbus Dunedin does not operate on Christmas Day.

The public holiday timetables apply to Boxing Day on the 26th as well as 1 and 2 January. You can find your holiday bus timetable on the individual timetables for each route at www.orc.govt.nz/Orbus, via your booklet, the fold-out timetable or you can call 0800 ORBUSDN (672 8736). The 0800 call centre will be operating during the holidays but will be closed on statutory days.