From the start of Term 2, 2022, students at Arrowtown Primary School will be able to get the route 2 bus from outside the school to after school sports activities at the Queenstown Events Centre, due to a small timetable and route change. This change is only on school days during school terms.
This will allow nearly 50 students a day to travel to sports games by bus.
To help maintain scheduling, the 2:55pm only bus will not pick up from the bus stops at Tucker Beach Road and Quail Rise. All other services throughout the day will remain as currently scheduled.
Arrowtown Primary School parent, Kris Jarvis, said she and school staff had worked with the ORC to achieve this service.
“Around 50 students per day will now be able to get to their after-school sports at the Queenstown Events centre without their parents having to drive them. This will take many cars off the road over the course of a week. It will also help minimise chaos outside the school gate.”
Wakatipu High School students will also benefit from a minor change to a bus route from the start of Term 2.
On weekdays during term time the route 4 Jack’s Point bus service that departs Frankton Hub at 3:25 pm will divert via Wakatipu High School before returning to its normal route. This will give students travelling to Jack’s Point and Hanley’s Farm an easier trip home. School finish time has previously meant the students arrived at the Frankton bus hub with a significant wait for their bus to Jack’s Point.
Doug Rodgers, Transport Manager, said ORC was pleased to be able to help the schools out.
“A minor change to the routes means ORC is able to help a large number of primary school students get to sports activities every week and also means that high school students bound for Jack’s Point and Hanley’s Farm can get home earlier.
“This not only helps the communities out, it also helps ORC meet our objectives for reducing network pressure, as stated in the Regional Public Transport Plan.”
Those wanting more information on updated services should follow Orbus Queenstown on Facebook. The Transit App is being updated but the changes won’t show for a while, so although the operators are operating the new timetable from 2 May 2022, the online and print timetables do not reflect the change just yet.
Arrowtown Primary School minor change to route
It departs Arrowtown Primary School at 3:05pm.
The bus departs the stop outside the Four Square in Adamson Drive before turning right onto Centennial Avenue and right again onto Chalmers Place where it picks up students before looping around the school and continuing on the normal route.
Yes, on weekdays during school term, two stops have been removed from the 2:55pm Arrowtown to Queenstown route. They are the stops in Tucker’s Beach Road and Quail Rise. See map below.
Students can get back to Arrowtown using the normal bus service although it is expected the majority will be picked up by their parents from the centre.
Wakatipu High School minor change to route
No stops are missed.
It is expected to take approximately 10 minutes extra to allow the bus to get from the Hub to the school then back out onto the main road to continue the route.
