But another recommendation from the council's finance and corporate committee turned down a bid from bus users in the City Rise area for the Arthur St, Canongate, Russell St area to be reinstated in the Belleknowes-Waverley route.
Dunedin bus users group co-president Alex King said the latter decision was ''very disappointing'' and would damage the interests of many ''transport-disadvantaged'' people who lived in the area.
The hearing panel of council deputy chairwoman Gretchen Robertson and Cr Andrew Noone earlier considered submissions on council proposals to overcome the ''plight of the Concords'' by reconnecting the Concord bus service with Green Island.
That proposed change came after extensive community protest, and after direct bus links between those two areas, and between Green Island and South Dunedin, were lost when a new express bus service to central Dunedin started on July 1, 2015.
Cr Robertson, who chaired the panel, recommended approving a council proposal to add a ''community link'' bus service, between Concord and Green Island, initially for off-peak hours.
The panel also amended a route map, to show ''via a dotted line, possible connection points with other bus services''.
Many submitters had also sought a connection between Concord-Green Island and South Dunedin, she said.
The panel noted that a full service through to South Dunedin was ''not appropriate at this time'' but that ''providing future flexibility without the need for a further amendment to the Regional Public Transport Plan was desirable''.
The proposed dotted line amendment would provide council with ''greater flexibility into the future'', she said in a report.
Mr King said there were several ''positives'' in the overall response, including restoring the Concord-Green Island link.
Other positives included that the strength of community feeling had been recognised, that the merit of potentially extending the service to South Dunedin had been acknowledged, he said.
A further report to the finance committee from council director corporate services Nick Donnelly noted that a bus use survey had been undertaken of 553 residential households in the Arthur St, Canongate, Russell St area, and of 181 absentee landowners/households.
Cr Trevor Kempton said there was a risk that transport planning principles over more direct routes could potentially be undermined if the areas were reincluded in the route.
Councillors later voted voted by six votes to four not to reinclude the City Rise area.
Several councillors, including Michael Laws, Mr Noone and Carmen Hope, raised concerns about the matter, and Cr Hope wanted to see a summary of comments by survey participants.
