After the ministry reviewed its Queenstown school bus routes it informed schools from term 2 this year one route would be cancelled, a new route would be introduced, seven would be redesigned and the remaining 11 routes would continue on an interim basis.
The decision has proven controversial and parents and Otago regional councillors have raised concerns.
Wakatipu High principal Oded Nathan said his charges were already experiencing issues using the public network, run by the ORC, to get to and from school.
However, if the regional council stepped up, it would create a "win-win, as opposed to a potential lose-lose", Mr Nathan said.
"Otherwise, you’re going to have the community inundated by congested buses and students, and vice-versa, and the safety of students — particularly at the primary school level — is pretty significant, too.
"We need to remove barriers to education, and having a ministry-based bus service for our kids is an important part of that."
Mr Nathan said at least twice, including last week, public buses were not running in the morning, meaning some students were waiting for transport for over half an hour, making them late for school.
The other day, two boys were forced to run from the Frankton Bus Hub to the high school, near Remarkables Park, "because the connector bus didn’t come".
While students were usually penalised for tardiness, this week Mr Nathan advised the senior leadership team to "exert a little bit of discretion at the moment given what’s happening with the buses for kids".
The school bell rang at 8.55am four days a week and some students were having to catch a 7.30am bus to ensure they were on time.
At the other end of the day, Mr Nathan said there were capacity issues with the number 4 bus, which went to Hanley’s Farm and Jack’s Point.
There was a single bus service, at 3.26pm, which "did not ... meet the capacity needs".
Following conversations with the council, a trial started last week in which another bus swung past at 3.56pm to get students home safely.
Mr Nathan said he would be pushing for that to become permanent.
Council regional planning and transport general manager Anita Dawe confirmed that in response to a request from the high school, the council re-routed another afternoon service, 30 minutes after the 3.24pm service, past the school to provide additional flexibility.
Ms Dawe said the trial would help to understand patronage and also "flow on impact on other services".
"This is a trial we can implement at low cost and quickly.
"This trial is not intended to address the withdrawal of Ministry of Education services at all."
The council aimed to deliver a public transport system that suited "the most people, most of the time".
"We are unable, without significant cost and potential disruption to other services, change routes and timetables without planning and lead in times."
She said every year across the country, public transport experienced a phenomena dubbed "March madness" wherein public transport services were full, if not oversubscribed, as schools and universities returned and visitors moved around the country.
However, generally, toward the end of the month, patronage dropped off, as people started after-school activities and spread their travel over a longer period of time.
"We anticipate some drop off in patronage in Queenstown in the next few weeks," Ms Dawe said.
"We are also fully aware that patronage in the southern corridor is continuing to grow, and we will be working toward a more sustainable solution as part of the next long term plan, which is the opportunity to secure additional funding and improve service levels."
