The irony is the bus may not be full on that day — April 24 — as many schools are opting to not open and instead take a teacher-only day. The following day is Anzac Day and schools will be closed.
Otago Regional Council transport manager Lorraine Cheyne confirmed the council bus contractor would be running an extra service from Warrington. It will be starting at the beginning of term two, which is just over a week away.
The service had been bursting at the seams in the first term, leading to complaints about the bus being overloaded and an accident waiting to happen.
Parents in Dunedin’s north coast settlements feared for the safety of their children, forced to stand in the aisle of crowded buses on the long morning commute into the city for school.
Departing Palmerston at 7am every week day, the hugely popular morning bus picks up passengers at Waikouaiti, Karitane, Warrington, Evansdale, and Waitati on its way into Dunedin, where it drops people at Castle St and the bus hub. It is also packed on the way home, leaving the bus hub at 3.35pm.
Grandparent Nikki Torbett said the addition of a second bus was great news.
"We thought we might only get it after there had been an accident. But they have done the right thing. Going into winter where the conditions can be dangerous it is ideal timing," she said.
"It has been a worry. We had kids piling in on each other and had eight kids sitting on each other on the back seat of the bus, which can’t be safe."
Passengers on the Otago Regional Council public transport bus service include adults heading into town for work, as well as primary, intermediate and high school pupils — the majority travelling to Dunedin North Intermediate, Otago Boys’ and Otago Girls’ High Schools.
The Palmerston to Dunedin bus run had always been busy, but in the first weeks of this school year, things got out of hand — the bus was often completely full by the time it departed Karitane, parents said.
The council had earlier said there had been an explosion of bus use on the Palmerston run along with the Mosgiel and Green Island routes.
The bus fare is only $1 for an adult at the moment with changes in Central Government assistance.
