Bus network recommendations finalised

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council will have the final say on changes to Tauranga's bus network. File photo

The Bay of Plenty public transport committee has finalised its recommendations for Tauranga's bus network - but it is still working on plans for school buses.

Committee chairman Lyall Thurston the new 'Blueprint programme' did involve changes to the school bus network.

"After significant discussion and engagement with schools, we have now developed school-led solutions for five schools and are continuing to work with a further seven schools.

"During this time, we are also continuing our discussions with the Ministry of Education and Tauranga City Council to ensure the school bus network addresses community feedback."

The committee, which implements and monitors public transport across the Bay, met this morning.

The recommendations the committee decided to make to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which had final approval, included:

- Extension of operating hours on all urban services to 8pm weekdays and weekends
- New service to provide an off-peak day time coverage service in Papamoa and Mount Maunganui
- Increase weekend frequencies on urban service to every 30mins
- A new service linking Waihi Beach, Athenree, Katikati and Waihi will also be trialled from October.

The goal of the changes was to improve journey times with more direct and regular service connections, and to drive an increase in demand for public transport.

New technology would also play a role - it could give bus users better information or potentially give buses priority over traffic in some parts of the network and

Mr Thurston said the Bay of Plenty, like other parts of the country, was facing growth challenges.

He said public transport would play a crucial role in helping address these challenges over the next ten years and beyond.

"It is part of our business as usual approach to public transport to ensure that it is flexible and nimble to be able to adapt and evolve to meet the changing needs of the community and our environment.

"The effective delivery of a public transport network is complex, challenging and constantly changing, and it requires significant capacity, capability and resources.

We will continue to work with our communities, stakeholders and other organisations to ensure the effective delivery of public transport for the Bay of Plenty region."

"We had an unprecedented response from the public following the Blueprint engagement and there's a strong interest from the community in working with us to build the best public transport network for the community and level of investment."