$2.2m contract to put new buses on roads

Go Bus is upgrading its Napier and Hastings fleet and passenger capacity. Pictured is Hastings operations manager Sofia Karantze. Photo / Paul Taylor

Go Bus is spending $2.2 million on five new buses for Hawke's Bay.

Managing director Calum Haslop said its renewed nine-year contract with the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, starting August, required larger vehicles on some routes and more frequency on others.

Express buses between Napier and Hastings will be replaced with "modern, super-low-floor mid-size urban buses".

On route 12, between Napier and Hastings via Hawke's Bay Hospital, EIT, Greenmeadows and Marewa, there would be larger-capacity buses.

The company, owned by Tainui Group Holdings and Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation, ordered the buses to be built by Christchurch-based Designline Bus Pacific, adding to Go Bus' Hawke's Bay urban fleet of 21.

The new buses form part of a $13 million 29-bus investment, maintaining Go Bus' youngest average-age fleet in the country, he said.

"We have a long and proud history partnering with New Zealand bus builders and these new additions to our fleet will feature Euro 5-compliant diesel engines that meet the world's toughest emission standards, as well as being economical," he said.

"Our investment in new vehicles will ultimately lead to increases in passenger numbers on our Christchurch, Dunedin and Hawke's Bay bus routes. This is a significant contribution ... to help ease congestion in these major cities."

Tender documents for the contract included a financial incentive of up to $50,000 annually, paying 60 cents per passenger above the number carried the previous year.