Direct Lake Hayes buses

Passengers board a bus in Camp St, Queenstown, yesterday. Photo: Guy Williams
Passengers board a bus in Camp St, Queenstown, yesterday. Photo: Guy Williams
A direct bus service between Lake Hayes Estate and Queenstown may be launched later this year.

Otago Regional Council support services manager Gerard Collings said it was discussing a direct service during morning and afternoon peak periods with operator Ritchies.

Lake Hayes Estate and Shotover Country residents had been calling for the service, which would mean passengers would not need to change buses at the Frankton hub, Mr Collings said.

The Lake Hayes Estate to Jacks Point service would continue and the peak time direct service into the town centre would be ''added on''.

''These more direct services would still run via the hub, with the potential to pick up additional passengers there, but wouldn't necessitate a transfer at that point.''

Another benefit of the direct service was the needed extra capacity it would provide between Frankton and Queenstown during peak periods, he said.

Residents and the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) have been calling for the direct service since the Orbus network - a joint initiative between the regional council, QLDC and the New Zealand Transport Agency - was launched in 2017.

Meanwhile, figures presented at the regional council's finance and corporate committee meeting yesterday show patronage and fare revenue on the network continue to rise.

Fare revenue for the first nine months of the 2018-19 financial year was nearly $2.7 million, up 18% on the previous year.

Patronage was up 88% on the previous financial year to 1.1million trips, while patronage in March was 26% higher than for the same month last year.

In a report for the committee, senior public transport officer for Queenstown, Stephen Patience, said the QLDC was in the final stages of consultation on moving the town centre's bus hub from Camp St to Stanley St.

The next step would be to complete detailed design work.

The relocation to Stanley St was necessary to accommodate the revamp of O'Connells Shopping Centre, he said.

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