A new Dunedin city bus service will be available for the Waikouaiti Coast community from next week.
The Otago Regional Council has funded an extra morning Orbus service to provide more seats for Dunedin school pupils and residents in Waitati and Warrington.
ORC transport manager Lorraine Cheyne said the route would start from Warrington and finish at the bus hub in central Dunedin.
The new service would start from Warrington on Wednesday to support the start of the new school term, she said.
The decision followed a consultation with the Waikouaiti Coast Community Board about crowding and capacity on the morning commuter service, Mrs Cheyne said.
"The community has been engaged in developing a solution that works for them and we are pleased we can meet the demand," she said.
Waikouaiti Coast Community Board chairman Alasdair Morrison said the board had been receiving complaints regarding overcrowding on the current route 1 bus from Palmerston to the city hub for some time.
"We are pleased to see something is being done to rectify the situation," he said.
Services were normally co-funded by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and the ORC, but the new morning service would be entirely funded by the ORC.
The new service would be labelled the same as the normal bus and depart Warrington on weekdays.
It would leave the bus stop outside Warrington School in Ferguson St at 7.35am and run via Evansdale and Waitati, arriving at the bus hub at 8.10am.
The new service would be available to all passengers and cost $1 per trip for adults and 60c for school pupils.
Details on the service and timetable would be available on the ORC website.