Napier's new intercity bus terminus is having an identity crisis - officially, it's not a bus stop.
That is not a problem for the hundreds of passengers who pass through the Clive Square terminus every day but it has become an issue for the bus companies and Napier City Council.
Bus drivers have complained to the council that motorists collecting and dropping off passengers are parking in the terminus, blocking the way for buses.
"There have been cases where we can't actually get the bus into the transit terminal because there are people parking in there," said council regulatory services manager Michael Webster.
"It's a transit terminal for buses and their passengers, not a drop-off zone, and there is a pretty reasonable level of parking around the general area."
Coach operators want the council's parking wardens to step in and police the terminus but they cannot because the site has not been designated as a bus stop.
The problem will be addressed tomorrow, when a meeting of the council's regulatory committee will be asked to officially declare the area a bus stop.
The terminus, built at a cost of about $460,000, was opened in February. Companies offering intercity bus services previously arrived and departed from different city locations. The terminus was designed to offer a single, safe location and reduce congestion in the CBD.
Mr Webster said failure to formally recognise the site as a bus stop until now was not an oversight. The council had been waiting to see how the facility was used and, since some drivers were abusing the site, it was now clear the ability to issue tickets was required.
"Declaring it as a bus stop will give us the legislative teeth to say 'please move along or we will have to serve you with an infringement notice'."
No-parking signs would be erected once the bus stop designation was confirmed by the council.
The fine for parking in a bus stop is $40.
Mr Webster said the council would see how traffic behaved under the new regime but could look at providing free short-stay parking spots near the terminus if there was a demand from people dropping off and collecting bus passengers.