Sixteen Orbus services have been cancelled at short notice this evening due to a number of drivers in Dunedin being sick.
A statement posed on the Orbus website said a number of cancellations had been caused by driver illness.
Five bus routes have been affected and 16 bus journeys were cancelled.
The first one was Route 55 from Brockville to St Kilda at 7.03pm.
Routes 8, 19, 33 and 50 were also affected.
Orbus Dunedin also posted on Facebook about 4pm that vans would be replacing buses on routes five and six.
The vans would go to the same locations as normal buses but would not show up on real time tracking.
Passengers were advised to keep their ‘‘eyes peeled on the road’’.
Van drivers had been advised to stop at all stops where passengers were waiting in case passengers didn’t know to hail the smaller vehicle, the post said.
In the comments about 5pm, Orbus Dunedin said that the vans were ‘‘just a temporary measure for today’’ and all other routes would be operating as usual with normal-sized buses.
Otago Regional Council transport implementation lead Julian Phillips said on Wednesday that customers should prepare for travel disruptions to bus services including reduced services.
There was a national shortage of bus drivers which limited flexibility to cover absences.
Bus companies had access to rapid covid tests for drivers.
Passengers were asked to remain diligent with facemask wearing and to not travel if they were required to self-isolate or were feeling unwell, he said.
