Over 350 additional bus trips to and from Port Chalmers are to be added in a bid to ease pressure from cruise ship passengers using the service.
The cruise ship season is due to start on October 15 with the arrival of the Diamond Princess.
Last year, the route was plagued with long lines as people waited for buses to and from Port Chalmers, leaving secondary school students, morning commuters and locals stranded waiting for a free spot.
West Harbour Community Board chairwoman Ange McErlane said while there were problems, every year the Otago Regional Council’s service got increasingly better, and she hoped the trend would continue this season.
"They stepped up and made a huge difference from the previous year last season. Some people still complained but there was a noticeable difference — they should have a feel of what to expect and that improvement continues to this season."
She said some things were out of the council’s control.
"A problem the ORC can’t help is that it is much cheaper to use their buses than the provided shuttle buses ... some of the information the cruise ships give to passengers is also misleading, which doesn’t always help things."
Otago Regional Council’s public and active transport committee co-chairman Andrew Noone said the 358 additional bus trips on the route would run on 44 days during the season when over 2000 cruise ship passengers were due to arrive.
"On these days, extra services will run during our morning and afternoon ‘peak times’, meaning buses will run every 15 minutes on weekdays, or every 30 minutes on weekends," he said.
A total of 94 cruise ships were scheduled to call into Port Chalmers and Dunedin, 81 of those docking in Port Chalmers — a decrease from the 118 ships last year.
"The cruise ships will bring thousands of tourists to Dunedin this summer. The council is working closely with Port Otago and the West Harbour Community Board to plan for crowding on buses."
A retail booth in the Port Chalmers Library would again sell bus tickets to cruise passengers.
The central city drop off and pick up point for cruise ship passengers on the Port Chalmers bus will again be outside Centre City New World in Cumberland St, Mr Noone said.
