Bus changes bring disorder

Dunedin bus routes have descended into chaos this week following the closure of a commercial school bus service, pupils and parents say.

Pupils have this week reported being crammed into crowded buses, being unable to board full buses and having to wait for another, and some buses only being available at inconvenient times.

However, the Otago Regional Council said things had largely gone smoothly in the first week of school after pupils were forced to use the public bus system because of the end of many school bus routes.

Otago Road Services ceased operating more than 20 dedicated school bus services around the city at the end of last year after the company decided to withdraw from the industry after Go Bus took over its Ministry of Education-funded routes.

The regional council has provided route extensions to the Dunedin public transport network to support pupils who were not covered by other bus services, but many families said they had been left without a reliable means of getting to school.

Pupils waiting at the central city bus hub in Great King St after school on Thursday were frustrated with the new system.

Otago Girls’ High School pupil Olivia Edmonds (15) said she had been forced to take the town bus from Mosgiel, which arrived in Dunedin about 6am, meaning she was left waiting several hours for school to start.

A group of Bayfield High School pupils said they were unable to board their scheduled bus because it was too full and they had to wait more than 30 minutes for the next one.

They said the situation was "frustrating" and their parents were unhappy.

"I just want to get home," one said.

They did not necessarily want a dedicated school bus again, just an organised system that worked.

Another student said the situation continued yesterday. He was most concerned about the overcrowding, especially in the present Covid setting.

A Fairfield parent, who declined to be named, was concerned about the safety of her daughter and other pupils who were "crammed" on a bus to Taieri College earlier this week.

"My daughter texted me from the bus and said there were so many people on it that she couldn’t move and she didn’t know how she was going to get out.

"If the bus has to swerve or brake unexpectedly, people could be injured."

She was also concerned about the general public trying to get to work on the same buses and had decided to drive her daughter to school in the interim.

The situation has prompted the regional council and principals of affected schools to call for patience while the new bus system is perfected.

Taieri College principal David Hunter said Go Bus had taken over their school transport contract. He hoped the issues would not be ongoing.

"There’s been a changeover in provider, so there’s always a bit of teething stuff which we’re working through."

Otago Boys’ High School rector Richard Hall said like the pupils and parents, he was concerned about the unreliability of the service at present and the safety of pupils on those buses.

He was working with the Otago Regional Council to organise a contractor to replace the school’s missing bus services.

"We are looking at a combined bus with Otago Girls’ High School and maybe St Hilda’s Collegiate because we are close schools.

"I have been in contact with the ORC and they have assured me that they are working on it.

"I hope to be able to make an announcement to parents early next week."

Regional council transport implementation lead Julian Phillips said "apart from a few teething issues", the system had run "really smoothly on the whole" in its first week.

"We’re grateful to school kids and our bus drivers and operators for their patience with the changes.

"We are mindful that these buses are filling up, and patronage is likely to continue to grow.

"There was a 50% jump in the number of passengers using these services from Wednesday to Thursday, so we know they are popular."

He said regional council staff were talking to operators about how to alleviate capacity issues. They arranged an extra bus for the busiest route yesterday afternoon.

"It is important to note that buses are designed to allow people to stand in the aisle safely if the seats are full, and drivers keep track of each bus’ overall capacity to make sure passengers are safe."

john.lewis@odt.co.nz