Council chief executive Peter Bodeker said the council was ''very serious'' about ensuring there was a system in place to make sure buses operated on time, even if there was driver illness or unavailability.
Asked what could be done, ORC support services manager Gerard Collings said there were ''contractual mechanisms'' in place, including potential financial penalties.
The council's Facebook page lists ''missed'' Ritchies buses on four days, including yesterday and Tuesday, on the No63 Balaclava-Logan Park, and Calton Hill-Pine Hill services, since newly-contracted Dunedin services began on September 18.
Some bus services were cancelled ''due to illness'', including several missed Logan Park-Balaclava buses last Tuesday morning.
The missed bus problems come against a background of a national shortage of bus drivers and Ritchies winning several more contracts in Dunedin from September 18.
The company has been seeking more permanent and casual drivers.
Mr Collings had been assured the separate cruise ship work would not adversely affect the city's bus services tomorrow.
Ritchies Dunedin manager John Ayoub said more trained and licensed drivers were becoming available.
The cruise ship work would not cause any problems as most of that work was done by drivers not working on council bus routes.
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When I phoned Regional Council about a none arriving bus they were not interested and said to ring the bus company. I wondered how Regional Council would know if the contracts were being met with given there was no complaints monitoring mechanism within the council for a council responsibility.