If the Dunedin City Council wants to take over Dunedin's public transport system, it "jolly well" needs to make a move before the end of the year, Otago Regional Council chief executive Graeme Martin says.
"They need to put up, or leave it be," he said at a finance and corporate committee yesterday.
However, that does not seem likely. Mayor Dave Cull said when contacted the city council would not be making such a decision until it had consulted the public and, if it was to do so, it would probably be through the annual plan process to be held early next year.
"The DCC has not made any formal decisions or considered the implications."
Mr Martin's call for action came after Cr Michael Deaker asked chairman Stephen Woodhead to "set the record straight" about comments the two councils were discussing the future of the city's transport system.
The issue had been talked about at "almost any location in Dunedin except around our table", he said.
Mr Woodhead reaffirmed that there had been no formal discussions between the two local bodies regarding the bus system and said it was up to the city to investigate and approach the regional council with a proposal.
Until then, the "status quo" would remain, he said.
"We're confident in how we run the system. We've committed a huge amount of money and there are still improvements to be made."
Some of discussions for the need for a change in ownership had arisen, he believed, from "unrealistic expectations" of a public transport system for a city the size of Dunedin.
"I challenge people to actually look at it pragmatically."
Mr Martin said it had been ongoing debate for many years, but if the city council was going to make it formal, it needed to be done before the council's long-term planning requirements took effect.
Cr Duncan Butcher said he could remember a few years ago voting for the city council to provide a report to the regional council on the issue but "it had still not come".
Cr Trevor Kempton said he believed the people who should run the buses were the people who could affect patronage the most and that was the city council.
"The city's efforts to speak to use need to be redoubled."
Mr Cull said he wanted to make it clear any potential proposal to take over the bus system would be due to the "synergies and efficiencies" that could be achieved, not because of a suggestion the regional council was not doing a good job.
"I think it would possibly be quite a challenge to maintain the same standards at the ORC."
