A commercial bus service between Dunedin International Airport and the city would not be economically viable, bus service operators say.
Dunedin man Terry Brosnahan recently asked why Dunedin was the only major city in New Zealand not to have such a service after being quoted $70 for a shuttle and $75 for a taxi to take his family of four back to Dunedin.
"In the age of high petrol prices and tight economic conditions, why isn't the Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council serving its ratepayers with a bus service?" he wrote in a letter to the editor of the Otago Daily Times.
In Dunedin, the Otago Regional Council is responsible for public bus services. Its transport manager, Jane Turnbull, said it was possible under legislation for a commercial operator to run a city-to-airport service if it chose.
In many other cities, it was a commercially operated service.
"Down here, there hasn't been any recent interest in running a route commercially."
As for a ratepayer-subsidised service, it was not something for which there had been great demand, and it would be difficult to justify, given there was still capacity on the motorway outside of rush hour for cars to travel to the airport, she said.
"We're not actively looking to contract [the service]. We'd like to see a commercially operating service."
Citibus general manager Tony Collins said there used to be a service many years ago but it died out when shuttles began offering door-to-door services.
Given air traffic at the airport was "spasmodic", logistically it would be very difficult to run a daily full-sized service.
"There are the odd times when there is a big influx - like when the students come back - when it could be sustained, or when there is a major event, but they often charter services."
It would also not be "economically viable" and could cost at least $10 to $12 a person, Mr Collins said.
Dunedin's airport, at 30km south of the city, was the farthest from a town centre: from Christchurch's airport to the city was 10.6km ($7.50 one way), from Wellington's to the city was 8km ($5.50 to $14.50), and from Auckland's to the city was 17.5km (about $16).
Otago Daily Times inquiries found shuttles to the airport ranged from about $13 to $25 per person, and taxi rides about $80.
Dunedin Passenger Transport director Kayne Baas said he did not think it would be economically viable because of the distance and the fact most people organised their own transport.
"You could not reliably depend on enough patronage to fill it."
