Nick Fifield this Monday joined local Otago Regional Council (ORC) councillor Alexa Forbes, Arrowtown Promotion and Business Association (APBA) chair Benje Patterson and Arrowtown-Kawarau ward councillors Lisa Guy and Melissa White in toasting Orbus’ new ‘Route 4’ service which goes via Arthurs Point to the CBD, then on to Jack’s Point.
"Obviously, Alexa has been leading [the charge] on the ORC side, and it’s definitely been a collective effort in terms of Chamber of Commerce, the APBA, the AVA," Fifield says.
"It’s just one of those logical things that seemed like a no-brainer to have the route go that way."
Fifield says a lot of Arrowtowners never contemplated bussing to Queenstown as they didn’t want to deal with traffic snarl-ups around the Frankton hub and along Frankton Rd.
"People always said, ‘if there’s a back route, if there was an Arthurs Point route, then I would definitely commute’.
"Even if you’re not saving a lot of time on paper, psychologically it just feels like it’s going to be a quicker, smoother journey, going the scenic way, so I just think it will really encourage people to use it for all sorts of reasons."
Fifield can see people, for example, biking the new trail from Arrowtown to Arthurs Point, having a pint at Gantley’s Tavern, then bussing back.
Arrowtowners also won’t have to worry about finding a CBD carpark, he adds.
He notes the Route 2 bus is continuing from Arrowtown to Frankton, but not going on to the CBD, "so [ORC] are effectively doubling the service out of Arrowtown".
