In a council meeting yesterday, the Otago Regional Council voted to accept an annual report detailing the level of service provided by the council across a number of key areas.
One of the areas surveyed was public transport as the council was responsible for providing services in Dunedin and Queenstown.
The report showed passenger satisfaction with the bus services in Dunedin had dropped from 91% to 89%.
The satisfaction survey was taken from July 7 to 10 when services were being cancelled due to driver shortages.
Nine days later the bus services were moved to a reduced timetable after reliability dropped below 90% for three consecutive days.
"The higher level of missed services has had a minor impact on patronage rates," the report said.
The number of passengers on buses in Dunedin also dropped during the 2021-22 period.
There were 2,367,099 boardings over the year period, a decrease of 13% when compared to the 2020/21 period.
The council chalked this down to a challenging year filled with driver shortages, seasonal illness and Covid-19 sickness.
"Covid-19 negatively influenced patronage rates," it said.
Cr Bryan Scott said he had accepted the report was an accurate representation of how council had performed over the term.
"I look at council performance and I think that’s how we have performed, maybe in terms of a C+ or a B-," he said.
Despite the drop in satisfaction more than 97% of respondents believed catching the bus was value for money.
"The Otago Regional Council aims to provide efficient, reliable public transport services to meet community needs," the report said.
In Queenstown, the situation seemed less dire, as overall passenger satisfaction was 98%.
Patronage in Queenstown was down by 9% compared to the 2020-21 period.
It is not yet known when buses will return to a fully operational timetable.
