Otago regional councillors will consider investing in "local and intra-regional services" today as transport issues become a focus for the Otago Regional Council’s forthcoming 2024-34 long-term plan.
In a report to councillors to be presented at today’s council meeting, transport manager Lorraine Cheyne said differences between rural and urban environments, in combination with Otago’s size, presented challenges for public transport, but "regional connectivity remains a priority for our community and our economy".
At present there was no public transport offered outside the greater Dunedin area and the Wakatipu Basin public transport networks, Ms Cheyne said.
Present services between towns and cities cost considerably more than public transport and were largely geared towards the travelling public, she said.
The council’s regional public transport plan acknowledged there were communities that did not have public transport options, her report said.
Staff proposed the council consulted on funding feasibility studies and the four trials across the region as part of its next long-term plan.
Funding the entire trial period through general rates was not recommended due to the high cost of the proposed Oamaru service.
Instead, both Oamaru and Wānaka trials would be funded by a targeted rate under the staff proposal.
If the Oamaru on-demand and the Wānaka public transport trials were funded from a targeted rate, the other proposals would have a $100,000 impact on general rates in the next financial year and a $615,000 impact on general rates in each of 2025-26 and 2026-27, her report said.
An Oamaru feasibility study in the first year ($250,000) and two years of trials ($614,000 and $1,118,000) would cost nearly $2 million on its own, more than the other regional trials combined, her report said.
The proposal assumed the trials would attract NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi funding assistance of 51%.
"As part of the feasibility analysis the openness to contributions from territorial authorities will be considered," it said.
Councillors will also discuss today the inclusion of $2m of funding for network improvement in Queenstown over the next three years and how to balance potentially increased service frequencies and operating hours and adult Bee Card fares in Dunedin.
