ORC sees pros, cons of bus changes

The Otago Regional Council could be ''damned if we do, and damned if we don't'' over some aspects of introducing its new southern route bus system next month.

That is the view of Cr Trevor Kempton, chairman of the ORC regional transport committee, who said the new system meant quicker and more frequent bus services, but any big change meant some people could be inconvenienced.

The planned changes include more than 230 new services on the southern routes and are the first set of wider changes being progressively rolled out to make the city's overall bus service more efficient and accessible, the ORC has said.

The July 1 changes affect routes servicing Abbotsford, Brighton, Fairfield, Green Island and Mosgiel.

More direct routes are being taken to the central city, after criticism from the public that current routes were too meandering and slow.

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

Cr Kempton said the ORC faced an ''enormously challenging situation'' in trying to develop the ''very best public transport system'' possible, given Dunedin's limited population.

The ORC could have waited a couple of years and introduced every aspect of a ''perfect system'' simultaneously, but had opted to provide a greatly improved service earlier, despite some parts of the overall system not being in place on July 1.

These included a bus shelter at the Green Island super stop, and a planned overall fully transferable ticket system and central city bus hub.

The ORC could have also been criticised if it had opted to delay introducing many more bus services, but some people could also object to the bus improvements being made without the rest of the planned system, he said.

A female bus passenger who lives near Green Island contacted the ODT last week, raising several concerns, including having delayed and more complex access to South Dunedin after July 1.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said the current bus service went directly through South Dunedin, allowing her to go shopping.

Bypassing South Dunedin on the new route, via the motorway, and then having to catch a second bus to reach the shops was inconvenient, and she was likely to use a car instead.

And the Green Island ''super stop'' would not have bus shelters, exposing waiting passengers to bad weather.

In addition, some older female passengers, arriving on the Abbotsford bus and transferring at Mosgiel, were concerned they could have to stand if the bus from Mosgiel was already full.

ORC support services manager Gerard Collings said bus shelters would be provided over the next financial year, and transfer passengers arriving in Green Island from Brighton and Abbotsford would wait in their own buses until the Mosgiel bus arrived.

A new code of conduct would be introduced on the southern buses from July 1, with notices suggesting seats be given up for older passengers.

Southern route passengers wanting to shop at South Dunedin supermarkets and shops in or near Hillside Rd could easily transfer to frequently running southbound buses after getting off at the Market Reserve stop in Princes St, resulting in little overall delay, he said.

 

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