Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead said this was the first set of a planned series of wider changes being progressively rolled out, and aimed at making the city's bus service more efficient and accessible.
The July 1 changes affect southern routes servicing Abbotsford, Brighton, Fairfield, Green Island and Mosgiel.
All services will be routed through Green Island, where existing stops will be enlarged to allow transfers between the Mosgiel and Brighton/Abbotsford services.
Under the changes, a bus ''super stop'' will be established at Green Island, initially consisting of a double-length bus stop on either side of the road, and other planned resources would be phased in gradually.
Bus shelters will be provided for the Green Island super stop by mid-next year.
It is understood ''real time'' updates on bus availability at the Green Island stops will be provided within about two years.
The overall changes involve providing more direct routes, improving frequency, and having buses follow a single route for every journey on each service.
A total of 238 extra bus services will be provided on the southern routes, comprising 130 to Mosgiel; 40 to Brighton; and 68 to Abbotsford, the ORC said.
As well as providing more regular services on more direct routes, the changes would also significantly strengthen weekend bus services on the southern routes, adding 36 weekend services in Mosgiel.
The extra Brighton (26) and Abbotsford (33) services include a late evening service on Fridays and Saturdays, with Abbotsford also getting Sunday and public holiday services.
Mr Woodhead said the southern route changes meant potential ''win-win'' benefits both for people without cars who needed to use the bus, and for people with cars who wanted to use public transport.
The improved services would add to Dunedin's vibrancy, and if fewer cars were driven into the central city, air pollution and pressure on parking would be reduced, he said.
Providing more frequent services, including at weekends, also added significantly to the city's social fabric and amenity.
Dunedin was an attractive city which already had a good public transport system, and for the ''win/win'' benefits to be achieved, more people ultimately had to use the buses, he said.
Although planned changes to Dunedin's overall bus ticketing system will not come into effect until next year, some earlier changes were being made to accommodate changes through the Green Island super stop from July 1.
These ticketing changes will enable Brighton residents to pay their full fare to central Dunedin when they board the bus at Brighton, but then, at the Green Island stop, to have a free transfer to the bus from Mosgiel heading into the city.
Buses departing on the hour would do so consistently, providing passengers with more certainty about departure and arrival times. Go Bus Transport Ltd had gained the contract to operate the new services, through a competitive tender process.
The ORC would publicise the changes throughout this month and bus users would be given handouts explaining the changes and a copy of the new timetable was being delivered to Dunedin households.
