Public transport in Dunedin

Otago Regional Council

Parent	Otago Regional Council
Locale	New Zealand
Service area	Dunedin (also Queenstown)
Service type	bus service
Routes	18 Weekdays; 12 off-peak (nights & weekends)
Hubs	The Octagon, Centre City New World supermarket (Cumberland St)
Fleet	55 low-floor buses, 4 other buses
Fuel type	Diesel
Operator	Go Bus Transport, Ritchies Transport
Website	Dunedin public bus services

Public transport in Dunedin, New Zealand is mainly by bus. Two bus companies, Go Bus Transport and Ritchies Transport operate routes under their respective brands, in co-operation with or under contract to the Otago Regional Council. There are 18 weekday routes and 12 weekend/public holiday routes.

Bus fares are paid for by cash, or by the electronic ticketing system GoCard which replaced paper multi-trip tickets in November 2007.

Bus operators

The Dunedin bus network is operated with over 55 low floor wheelchair-accessible buses, and a further 2-3 non-wheelchair accessible buses mainly used at peak hours.^[1] Bus route service contracts are often split between weekday services and weeknight/Sunday/holiday services. There are currently (in 2014) two local bus companies:

• Go Bus Transport (previously Passenger Transport-Citibus) operates the great majority of weekday routes, and all evening/Sunday/public holiday routes.
• Ritchies Transport operates weekday and Saturday services to Pine Hill, Opoho, Lookout Point, Shiel Hill and Concord

Routes

Weekdays and Saturdays

Weekday and Saturday services run Monday to Friday from 6:30am to between 6:00pm and 7:00pm (depending on route), when the Weekday evening services take over, and from about 7am to 10pm on Saturdays.

Most bus routes from the north and west are interconnected with routes from the south, with buses continuing from one route through to the other, forming one long bus route. For example, buses from Pine Hill continue though the Octagon to Lookout Point, and vice versa. Buses are signed and numbered by their final destination, so a bus from Pine Hill will be signed "Lookout Point 40."

	Destination numbers	Outer terminus	via	Central terminus	Interconnected route(s)	Notes
	1/2	Palmerston	Waikouaiti, Karitane, Waitati	Dunedin Cumberland Street	-	Special fares apply
	3/4	Garden Village	Glenleith, Gardens, University, George Street	Octagon	23/24 Ocean Grove
	5/6	Pine Hill	Gardens, George Street	Octagon	39/40 Lookout Point
	8/9	Normanby	Gardens, George Street	Octagon	28/29 St Clair
	10/11	Opoho	Gardens, George Street	Octagon	21/22 Shiel Hill
	13/14	Port Chalmers Harrington Street	Port Chalmers Central, Sawyers Bay, Roseneath, St Leonards, Burkes, Ravensbourne, Fertilizer Works, Logan Park, University (inbound), George Street (inbound), Octagon (inbound)	Countdown Cumberland Street	-
	17/18	Portobello	Edwards Bay, Turnbulls Bay, Broad Bay, Company Bay, Macandrew Bay, The Cove, Exchange	Centre City New World	-
	19/20	Highcliff	Waverley, Musselburgh (outbound), Exchange	Centre City New World	-
	21/22	Shiel Hill	Musselburgh, Exchange	Octagon	10/11 Opoho
	23/24	Ocean Grove	Bay Cemetery, Cargills Corner, Exchange	Octagon	3/4 Garden Village
	25/26	St Kilda	Cargills Corner, Exchange	Octagon	53/55 Brockville 57/58 Halfway Bush
	28/29	St Clair	Cargills Corner, Exchange	Octagon	8/9 Normanby
	32/34	Corstorphine	Kew, Cargills Corner, Exchange	Octagon
	33/35	Corstorphine	Caversham, Exchange	Octagon
	37/38	Concord	Kenmure, Bradford, Kaikorai, Moana Pool, Octagon (outbound), George Street (outbound)	University	-
	39/40	Lookout Point / Calton Hill [note 1]	Caversham, Exchange	Octagon	5/6 Pine Hill
	50/51	Helensburgh	Wakari, Kaikorai, Moana Pool, Octagon George Street	University
	53/55	Brockville	Halfway Bush, Kaikorai, Moana Pool, George Street (inbound)	Octagon	25/26 St Kilda
	57/58	Halfway Bush	Brockville, Bradford, Kaikorai, Moana Pool, George Street (inbound)	Octagon	25/26 St Kilda
	59/60	Bradford	Belleknowles, Belgrave Crescent, City Rise, Octagon, George Street	University	-
	61/62	Kenmure	Mornington, Octagon, George Street	University	-
	63/64	Balaclava	Mornington, Octagon, George Street	University	-
	66/67	Belgrave Crescent	Roslyn, Maori Hill, Prospect Park, University, George Street	Octagon	-
	70/71	Brighton	Ocean View, Waldronville, Green Island, Burnside, Caversham, Cargills Corner (inbound), Exchange, Octagon	Centre City New World	-
	72/73	Abbotsford McKinlay Road	Abbotsford Central, Green Island, Burnside, Caversham, Cargills Corner (inbound), Exchange, Octagon	Centre City New World	-
	74/75	Green Island	Burnside, Caversham, Cargills Corner (inbound), Exchange, Octagon	Centre City New World	-
	76/77	Mosgiel Centre Street	Mosgiel Gordon Road, Fairfield, Sunnyvale, Green Island, Burnside, Caversham, Cargills Corner (inbound), Exchange, Octagon	Centre City New World	-
	78/79	Mosgiel Centre Street	Mosgiel Centre Road, Dunedin Southern Motorway, Exchange, Octagon	Centre City New World	-	Mosgiel Express
	80/81	Mosgiel Gordon Road	Mosgiel East, Gordon Road, Mosgiel West	Mosgiel Gordon Road	-	Mosgiel Loop

Key

• ll Route operated by Go Bus Transport
• ll Route operated by Ritchies Transport
• All buses on route are wheelchair-accessible
• Buses on route are fitted with bike racks

Notes

• ^1 While the printed timetable names the terminus as Lookout Point, Ritchies buses display the destination as Calton Hill, the suburb in which the terminus is actually located.
• Bike racks and wheelchair accessibility are available on many other routes in addition to those indicated above on which they are contractually required to be provided

Weekday evenings, Sundays and Public Holidays

Weekday evenings services operate from about 6pm to 11pm and Sundays and Public Holidays services run from about 9am to 6pm. All services are operated by Go Bus Transport and all accept wheelchairs and bikes.^[2]

Other transport services

A Super Shuttle service to Dunedin International Airport, operated by Tourism Transport, loads a passenger at Dunedin Railway Station

Taxi companies in Dunedin include the following:

• City United Taxis
• Dunedin Taxis
• Nab-a-Cab
• Green Cabs

There are no conventional bus services to Dunedin International Airport: this airport is served by a large fleet of shuttle vans provided by several operators including most of the local taxi companies. Airport shuttle vans typically travel non-stop to or from the airport and meander about the city and suburbs picking up or dropping passengers at each address.

Organising public transport in Dunedin

The vast majority of Dunedin's bus network is designed, specified, contracted and subsidised by the Otago Regional Council and funded by ratepayers. Buses use the individual companies' livery with Otago Regional Council stickers added. Until recently, all services operated under the brand Gobus; this ended when a bus company with a similar name began serving the city. A couple of bus routes are operated commercially outside the Regional Council's control but still co-operate with the council to provide an integrated service. All services are regulated by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA). The Dunedin City Council has no administrative role other than as provider of the road infrastructure (with the exception of State Highways, for which NZTA is the provider), street furniture such as signs and seats and regulation of parking at bus stops. However, the city council is involved in discussions with the regional council over taking over the management of public transport.^[3]

Fares

All bus services except the Palmerston service operate on a zone-based fare scheme. There are seven concentric fare zones, with Zone 1 containing central Dunedin, and Zone 7 containing Mosgiel, Brighton, and Harington Point. Fares on the Palmerston service are levied independently of the zone system.

Fares are either paid in cash to the driver of the bus, or by GoCard. The GoCard is a radio frequency identification stored value card, similar to London's Oyster Card and identical (except for branding) to the Metrocard used for public transport in Christchurch. GoCards are bought from the bus driver, or from Otago Regional Council or Dunedin City Council offices for $5, with a minimum top-up value of $10.

From 1 October 2010, bus fares are:^[4]

History of public transport in Dunedin

The Dunedin City Council operated other forms of public transport — the Dunedin cable tramway system (similar to the famous San Francisco cable cars) operated between 1881 and 1957; electric trams operated on several routes from 1900 to 1956; and trolleybuses from 1950 to 1982.

New Zealand Government Railways Department operated Commuter trains from the Dunedin Railway Station to Wingatui and Mosgiel, and to Port Chalmers until 1982 and 1979, respectively. They also operated motor buses to the suburbs of Warrington, Cherry Farm, Brighton, Outram, Mosgiel.

In early times, there were ferries connecting the central city to Port Chalmers and Portobello, but these ceased in the 1930s when road connections along the harbour's edge were improved.

Former public transport operators companies in Dunedin include Turnbulls (Dunedin to Portobello); Newtons (Dunedin to Waverley), Otago Road Services (Dunedin to the suburbs of Green Island, Abbotsford and Fairfield) and Cesta Travel, later called Southeastern (a wide range of routes at various times).

Dunedin's largest bus company, Citibus grew from the city's municipal public transport department, DCT, which operated electric trams, cable cars, trolleybuses and diesel buses. It was taken over in 2011 by Invercargill Passenger Transport which in turn became part of Go Bus Transport. About this time, the regional council ceased using its brand Gobus to avouid confusion with the newly arrived company Go Bus.

The Taieri Gorge Railway has expressed interest in running a reinstated commuter rail service in Dunedin, but has no plans to proceed with the idea without funding. The Otago Regional Council is opposed, maintaining that Dunedin's passenger transport requirements are being adequately served by the bus system.^[5]

References

External links

• Otago Regional Council