The 85,000 trips taken in the service’s first full month of operation compares to 41,000 in December 2016, and was about 13% higher than forecast by the Otago Regional Council (ORC).
In a report to an ORC committee last week, support services manager Gerard Collings said although revenue had also exceeded expectations, it was down 7% on December 2016.
That was "solely attributable" to the service’s low flat fare.
Mr Collings said although it was early, the regional council might have "hit the sweet spot" in finding the balance between fares and patronage.
"It’s pleasing to see we’re on target with where we thought we’d be, and if we can achieve growth on the target, then that means we’ll be in a position to make some of the service improvements and adjustments that the community are asking for, earlier."
Patronage and revenue numbers for January were not yet available, he said. The Orbus network, which is funded by the regional council, the Queenstown Lakes District Council and the NZ Transport Agency, started running on November 20.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said he was delighted by the figures, and was looking forward to working with the regional council and the NZTA to expand the service as passenger numbers continued to grow.
"Every person on a bus is one less car on the road, so this will continue to have a great impact on traffic in the region, not to mention the environmental benefits."
Mr Collings said the regional council had been getting feedback about missed services.
"Some services are caught in the same delays as the other traffic, and while it might seem like a missed service, it’s just late running.
"We’re keen to make sure ... the service is reliable."
There had also been "teething problems" with NZTA’s Choice app, which sometimes gave the impression a service was not running, when it was.
Mr Collings said 18,500 GoCards were issued in the Queenstown area by the end of last month.
