The Go Bus Transport depot site is owned by the Dunedin City Council, but Kainga Ora is considering buying it to develop housing there.
Dunedin Tramways Union president Alan Savell raised concerns about a potential sale happening when the Government had just announced plans that included allowing regional councils and territorial authorities to own and operate services in house.
"This presents local government with a huge opportunity to show real visionary leadership by taking full responsibility for the region’s public transport network," Mr Savell said.
"It also takes the sale of the Princess St bus depot off the table."
Both Kainga Ora and the city council said a decision had not yet been made about a potential sale.
Mr Savell said drivers would "love to see the reasoning" for where a better depot site might be located.
One possibility floated last month was moving the depot to the former home of PlaceMakers in Portsmouth Dr.
The Otago Regional Council is responsible for bus services in Dunedin and there have been calls for the city council to take them over.
Mr Savell said a bus depot was a critical component of the transport network, no matter which council was in charge.
Electric charging stations were also needed and it made sense to put them on publicly owned land, Mr Savell said.
He cautioned against pushing ahead with decision-making that might "kneecap future councils".
The tramways union also took issue with commentary from the Bus and Coach Association of New Zealand this week about the Government’s planned changes.
Association chief executive Ben McFadgen had said the Government was showing an "appalling disregard for business and the realities of market dynamics".
"The idea that services will be most effective and efficient under a centralised model is fundamentally unsound," Mr McFadgen said.
Mr Savell said members of the association had shown appalling disregard for the travelling public by running down staff numbers and using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to cancel services.
"They now have the opportunity to show an immediate willingness to improve their attitude to serving the public and upholding contractual commitments, or they are on notice that they will have work taken away from them."
A lease with Go Bus Transport at the Princes St site expired in March 2017 and a periodic tenancy has been in place since.
Dunedin City Council chief executive Sandy Graham said last year the potential housing development was an exciting project that would, if confirmed, deliver a significant and much-needed boost to the city’s housing supply.
It could also make best use of a prime central city location.
