Cramped bus stops, those that do not have a good connection to the footpath, and stops that are too close together will come under scrutiny.
Those stops best suited for electronic schedule information will also be identified.
The Otago Regional Council, which funds bus stop infrastructure and manages the bus network, along with the Dunedin City Council, which owns and manages bus stop infrastructure, are now seeking a contractor to complete the audit.
Despite ongoing investments and improvements to Dunedin’s bus stops, the city’s stops were in a "moderate" condition, tender documents obtained by the Otago Daily Times said.
"While basic facilities like shelters and timetables are widely available, several challenges persist.
"These include cramped bus stops, limited accessibility, especially in hilly suburbs, limitations in the interface between bus stops and footpaths [or] cycleways, and bus stops that are too close together or poorly paired."
Beyond the initial look at the level of service and accessibility issues, using data collected through the Bee Card system, the project would also create a "prioritised" list of stops, indicating an order for real-time information on bus movements to be implemented, the documents said.
A full audit was done on 817 bus stops in 2015 to support route changes at the time.
And while some of the work would be repeated, it had been eight years since that audit and there was information not included.
This year’s audit would assess the present operational and asset conditions and would be used to "formulate bus stop infrastructure improvement proposals", the tender documents said.
The Dunedin bus network was a "mature network" that had experienced an increased level of service over the past eight years.
Patronage had grown from pre-Covid levels.
The network consisted of 24 routes, serving 875 bus stops, the documents said.
The audit would cover 810 of those stops.
The audit was expected to begin next month, the documents said.
Bus Users Support Group Ōtepoti acting chairwoman Liz Angelo said bus users would welcome being asked if the bus stop they used suited them.
Bus drivers too would provide a vital overview.
"They see people standing in the rain with shopping and may have to help them on and off if there’s no easy way to prevent them landing in the gutter.
"Wheelchairs are obvious but painful arthritic knees or low vision are not."
