Hamilton North residents may have a two-year wait for a bus service, despite a recent review which found other areas of Hamilton are being over-serviced.
Waikato Regional Council is proposing to merge several routes, using the cost savings to extend other routes currently not well serviced. But the implementation of new urban bus networks will not be staged until 2016 to 2018, coinciding with the expiry of existing bus contracts.
The draft regional public transport plan, which sets out what services will be delivered and how over the next 10 years, was adopted by the Waikato Regional Council and is open to the public for feedback.
Waikato Regional Council's public transport manager Ben Barlow said minor route changes may be able to be introduced before bus contracts expire, but if the changes proposed in the plan are made before the contracts are renewed it could incur significant cost.
"At the moment, less than 40 per cent of the cost of our public bus services is covered by fares, with the rest paid for by ratepayers and taxpayers. The Government has made it clear we have to reduce the amount of taxpayer subsidy.