Teething problems on new bus routes

Buses arrive at Green Island, where ''super stops'' are being developed as part of Dunedin bus...
Buses arrive at Green Island, where ''super stops'' are being developed as part of Dunedin bus transport reforms. Photos by Gregor Richardson.
Buses arrive at Green Island, where ''super stops'' are being developed as part of Dunedin bus...
Buses arrive at Green Island, where ''super stops'' are being developed as part of Dunedin bus transport reforms.
Gerard Collings.
Gerard Collings.

The start of the new Dunedin southern routes bus service has been accompanied by teething troubles, and community concern about lack of direct bus access to South Dunedin from Green Island.

The southern route bus changes, which began on Wednesday, involve a contract won by Go Bus Transport and affect nearly 20% of Dunedin's overall bus routes.

This is the first stage in a planned, phased-in series of public bus transport reforms which aim to deliver faster, more frequent and more direct travel to and from the central city.

After earlier public consultation, the Otago Regional Council helped develop a comprehensive transport plan to make improvements after many city bus routes had been criticised as over-complex and slow.

But a resident in the Green Island area, who has used buses for more than 30 years, contacted the Otago Daily Times yesterday, to point out some teething issues, and to lament the lack of bus shelters, given Wednesday's cold conditions.

She had travelled into central Dunedin on the new service on Wednesday.

A driver had inadvertently taken a wrong turn towards the former route, but had immediately corrected himself by going around the block and continuing, as scheduled, along Princes St.

But when she had taken the return bus to Green Island early in the afternoon, no connecting bus had been waiting to transfer her and two other passengers towards Brighton.

The original bus had eventually continued to Mosgiel, and she had used her own car, parked nearby, to drive a young woman passenger to Brighton, to avoid further delays.

The resident, who asked not to be named, said it was also ''unbelievable'' a direct bus service was no longer offered between Green Island and South Dunedin.

A Green Island woman, who also declined to be named, was also frustrated by the change of routes, and had cancelled an appointment she had had in Caversham today, because of the increased difficulty of reaching the area by bus.

One bus user also said she found the recently-issued new bus timetable book confusing.

A staff member at the Green Island Post Shop said on Wednesday she had fielded several inquiries from bus passengers unfamiliar with the new timetable and unsure when buses would arrive.

ORC support services manager Gerard Collings said there had been only ''minimal teething issues'' on the first day of the new southern routes timetable and he was ''pretty happy'', overall.

The bus operator and the ORC had undertaken considerable collaborative work to prepare for the new approach, including bus driver training, Mr Collings said.

A more frequent bus service was being provided and the ORC welcomed feedback from the public, including if anything had gone wrong.

Go Bus had advised him promptly about the bus mix-up at Green Island, which had been an isolated incident.

Good quality bus shelters would be provided at Green Island, but the ORC was avoiding wasting ratepayer money by putting them in and then having to shift them, as work continued to clarify the best final locations for the stops.

A great deal of work had also gone into producing the bus timetable book but it was ''unfortunate'' a helpful footnote had inadvertently been left out, in one place.

A travel planner was available on the ORC's internet site, and ORC staff were happy to give travel advice, such as using the Lookout Point bus to continue towards Caversham from near the Oval, he said.

john.gibb@odt.co.nz

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement