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Welcome to On Board with Orbus, your source of news and information about Dunedin and Queenstown's bus networks and the Bee Card 🐝🚍
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Here's our last edition of On Board with Orbus for 2021 with Christmas nearly upon us! Learn how it will affect services in your network, we reflect on a successful electric bus trial in Dunedin, and check out new bus shelters in Queenstown. Plus the Suburban Rumbler returns for another
old-school Christmas!
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Christmas Services
What does the silly season mean for your bus timetable?
Queenstown
Well, if you're in Queenstown for Christmas, it's really simple: there's no bus service on Christmas Day, otherwise everything runs as per usual.
Dunedin
For passengers on our Dunedin network, the holiday season is slightly more complicated:
25 December – On Christmas Day, there is no Orbus service. However, the Suburban Rumbler, operated by the Otago Heritage Bus Society will be running – more on that below.
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26-28 December – On these days we run our public holiday schedule, which is the same as a standard Sunday bus schedule. 29-31 December – Normal schedules, including the later services for a Friday on New Year’s Eve. 1-4 January – Public holidays observed, running the Sunday schedule again. From 5 January onwards, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled bus services, up until Waitangi Day is observed in February. You can find the Orbus public holiday schedules, anytime, here.
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E-Bus: The results are in!
The Electric bus that visited Dunedin in October was popular with passengers and produced fewer carbon emissions.
The electric bus trial, a collaboration between the Otago Regional Council and Go Bus Transport, tested the viability of the e-bus on Dunedin’s public transport routes, including hills, the city centre and motorways.
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The 35-seater Enviroline bus built by Global Bus Ventures in Rolleston and was driven on routes 8, 44, 55 and 77 during most of October.
ORC Implementation Advisor (Transport) Abbey Chamberlain said during the trial, the bus used between 40-50% of battery on a full day of service and performed well on hills, mitigating concerns about lack of battery power and range.
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The electric bus is estimated to have saved 2,511kg of CO2 emissions over the course of the trial, not to mention other CO2 savings from all the passengers who opted to travel by bus instead of their own car.
That is more than 90% reduction in CO2 emission compared to regular diesel buses.
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The survey showed that 73% of respondents said their current mode of travel was influenced by climate change issues. Read the full release here or check out ORC’s Regional Public Transport Plan to find out more about the transition to zero-carbon emission buses. |
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New bus shelters in QT
Santa came early to Frankton! Check out the new bus stops on Kawarau Rd (SH6) by Frankton Golf Course, for an improved bus hub.
Pretty flash, isn’t it? Bikers, we’ve got you covered with bike racks too.
Huge thanks to our partners QLDC!
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The Suburban Rumbler
Rides Again!For the eleventh year running, and with support from the Otago Regional Council, the Otago Heritage Bus Society (OHBS) volunteers will be operating the Suburban Rumbler on Christmas Day in 2021. The community favourite service, which uses restored historical buses, will return on Dunedin’s St Clair - Normanby route (number 8). It will depart hourly from St Clair from 9am to 6pm, and the other direction from Normanby from 9:30 to 6:30pm. The fare is a single trip for a gold coin.  Julian Phillips and co-chair OHBS Peter Dowden at the heritage bus depot.Andy Langford, Otago Heritage Bus Society Chairman, said the Society was pleased to be able to bring the bus back in 2021, marking over a decade of rumbling in Dunedin.
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ORC Implementation Lead Julian Phillips said, “Orbus takes a rare break on Christmas, but the Suburban Rumbler keeps Dunedin moving on a day where a lot of people are travelling to be with family.
"We’re proud to support the Society and help liven up Christmas for the passengers who will take a ride on a classic piece of transport history.” |
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Thank you and stay safe!
That’s all from On Board with Orbus in 2021. Whether you’re a daily commuter, or just an occasional bus user, we want to say thanks for using the Orbus service this year. A big thanks also to our drivers at Go Bus and Ritchies, who have been essential workers once again in another disrupted year. |
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| From the Otago Regional Council transport team – have a safe and happy Christmas, and a restful new year! |
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