Public transport

Is the Dunedin bus service as bad as some of us seem to think? Or is it a good service we simply like to 'talk down'? Mark Price looks at whether Dunedin's bus service is getting a fair go.

Park-and-ride facilities to cater for high-profile events and Frankton flats residents in Queenstown are "being considered", the council says.

Wakatipu residents and tourists "need to decide whether they want a bus service or a taxi service", Connectabus managing director Ewen McCammon says in response to fierce public criticism of his company's services in Queenstown.

Connectabus services are too slow and too expensive, and the real answer to boosting patronage is to sort out an effective park and ride system, Queenstown Times readers say.

One of Dunedin's biggest commuter bus companies is interested in buying its loss-making city council-owned competitor.

The Otago Regional Council says it is "disappointed" with a slow uptake of people using new Connectabus services from Queenstown to Kelvin Heights, and Lake Hayes Estate.

A commercial bus service between Dunedin International Airport and the city would not be economically viable, bus service operators say.

Spending six hours decorating his bus, dubbed the "Santa express", and then sweltering his way through shifts in a Santa suit, is all worth it for Lindsay Haar.

Otago Regional councillors have asked staff to come up with a range of options which could halt declining bus patronage, although Cr Sam Neill says the move is a "knee-jerk" and "political" reaction to the figures presented.

Converting Dunedin's passenger bus fleets to electric trolley buses could cost many millions of dollars - and ratepayers, rather than public transport users, might have to foot the bill, insiders suggest.

The trial of a bus service along Coast Rd between Karitane and Evansdale has been ruled out by the Otago Regional Council.

While still struggling "to get bums on seats" in Dunedin's public buses, the Otago Regional Council is considering how to manage quality and meet customer expectations.

A plan to run cable cars along High St could be a "small but significant" start to Dunedin preparing for the effects of peak oil, an Australian transport researcher says.

Dunedin's biggest commuter bus companies want to accept Transport Minister Steven Joyce's guarantee they will not make a loss if a cut to the SuperGold Card Free Travel Scheme is approved - but they both want more detail.

Dunedin's largest commuter bus company is considering using biodiesel, but it wants to be sure it uses an environmentally sustainable product to match the city's hills.