Bus users have welcomed a move by the Otago Regional Council to fund an upgrade to half-hourly service next year, on the Belleknowes-Waverley route.
When Belleknowes was linked to Waverley last year, the off-peak week-day service was reduced from half-hourly to hourly, which was criticised by several Belleknowes bus users.
At a meeting for bus users earlier this month, a senior regional council official announced the council had allocated funds for the No19 bus to be upgraded to half-hourly off-peak on weekdays, from July 1 next year.
Waverley resident Jeanette Robinson-Tromop yesterday welcomed the change, although she was still concerned about recent adverse changes involving school buses in the area.
Bus Go bus users support group co-president Alex King was ``delighted'' with the change and said the Belleknowes section of the route had had ``the worst frequency of any city suburban route''.
The group said a route change which bypassed the Canongate area of City Rise was a continuing point of contention. .
The switch to hourly service at the Belleknowes end of the route had imposed a ``bit of a struggle'' on older shoppers as they tried to get their supermarket shopping done quickly in order to catch the next bus up the hill.
If they missed that service, they had faced a long and inconvenient wait for the next bus, he said.
