Student bus fares indecision

The future of discount bus fares for students hangs in the air as one bus company is unsure of the scheme's viability.

A trial of the 25% discount, which ran from February to May in conjunction with students returning to the city for the new tertiary year, has continued for the past four weeks while bus operators assessed whether it should continue permanently.

Otago Regional Council corporate services director Wayne Scott said Ritchies Transport had indicated it wished to continue with the concession, as there had been a lift in users on its bus routes.

However, GoBus (formerly Dunedin Public Transport-Citibus) was not convinced, believing there had been a shift from cash fare to card use and was not keen to continue with the incentive.

Staff had met the company and were doing further analysis to prove there had been some ''uplift'' which would offset some of the patronage decline.

''We're still discussing it with them,'' Mr Scott said.

Chairman Stephen Woodhead said he encouraged staff to work

towards both companies continuing the discount, as there had been reasonable support from students.

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