Find out about school bus services and bus-related information.
If you are catching a bus on the Orbus public transport network to school for the first time, you can find all the information and links that you need on this page.
How to catch the bus
Learn everything on how to use the Orbus public transport network, such as getting a travel Bee Card, planning your bus journey and more.
Fares
Find information on bus and ferry fares for adults, children, Community Service card holders and SuperGold card holders.
Fare concessions
Concessions can give discounted or free travel for children, youth, Community Service card holders and SuperGold card holders.
Catching the bus with the Bee Card is simple and cheap. As well as access to cheaper fares in nine regions around New Zealand, including Otago, and an easy tag on tag off system, you can register your card to top up online, enjoy concessions and manage multiple cards.
If you or your child will be taking the public bus to school, make sure everything is ready before the school term starts:
- Get your Bee Card at www.beecard.co.nz or from any of these Bee Card retailer locations (Note the Bee Card is $5 and you need a minimum $5 top-up).
- Register the Bee Card online at www.beecard.co.nz.
- Once the Bee Card is registered, load it with a child or youth concession to get cheaper fares.
- Make sure your Bee Card has funds loaded onto it, to avoid having to top up with the driver on the first day of school. Top your Bee Card up here. You can also set up an auto top up, and share accounts so other people can top up your card.
- If you don't have a Bee Card on day one of school starting, you can pay for your Orbus service with cash. If you catch a second bus as part of your journey to/from school, you may be eligible for a free transfer . Without a Bee Card, you will have to pay for both buses.
Get your Bee Card – and register it!
A Bee Card is the prepay travel smartcard you should have.
Get a Bee Card and register it to get cheaper fares through a Child or Youth concession.
You can catch a public bus to get to and from Logan Park High school, Bayfield High school and Dunedin North Intermediate. You may need to transfer buses but use your Bee Card to transfer within 45mins and it's free.
Travels from the Pine Hill terminus via Pine Hill Rd, Bank St, Great King St North, Cumberland St North (SH1), Dundas St, and Butts Rd to Logan Park High School.
Travels from Dunedin North Intermediate via North Rd, Bank St and Pine Hill Rd to the Pine Hill terminus.
Travels from Logan Park High School via Butts Rd, Dundas St, Lovelock Ave and Signal Hill Rd to Opoho terminus at corner of Signal Hill Rd and Northfield Ave. Then via Signal Hill Rd, Dundas St, Great King St North (SH1), Great King St North, Bank St, and Pine Hill Rd to the Pine Hill terminus.
You can catch a public bus to get to and from Kaikorai Valley College, Otago Boys High school, King's & Queen's High school. You may need to transfer buses but use your Bee Card to transfer within 45mins and it's free.
Students can use services 37 and 38 to access Kaikorai Valley College. Route 38 travels from the University to Concord, via KVC. Students can transfer from services 44, 55 & 33 (heading toward city) at 117 Taieri Rd/ Taieri Rd, Nairn St intersection.
33 – City (from Wakari) arrives at 8.10am
44 – City (from Halfway Bush) arrives at 8.27am
55 – City (from Brockville) arrives at 8.13am
38 – Concord arrives at 8.35am
To allow for routes 37 to connect well with the hill suburbs of Brockville, Halfway Bush and Wakari, a minor change has been agreed for service 44 (St Kilda – Halfway Bush) in the afternoon.
The timetable has the Halfway Bush service departing before the 37 arrives from KVC. This bus (44 to Halfway Bush) will wait past its scheduled departure time for the 37 to arrive and students to transfer.
37 – Uni (from KVC) arrives at 3.34pm
44 – HB (from city) arrives at 3.28pm
55 – BV (from city) arrives at 3.43pm
33 – Wakari (from City) arrives at 3.41pm
To Otago Boys High School
Route 39 bus departs from Green Island super stop via Motorway.
Route 39 driver drop Balmacewen school kids at the Taieri Rd, Nairn Street stop at 8:00am and they can catch Route 33 to Balmacewen School from Taieri Rd 117(need to cross the road) at 8:10am.
Route 33 to Wakari will pick up all the kids at 8:10am.
From Otago Boys High School
Route 39 bus departs from Otago Boys School and enters Green Island via Main South Rd.
Route 33 to Corstorphine driver will drop all the kids at the Taieri Rd, Nairn Street Stop at 3:10pm and kids cross the road to catch Route 39 from Taieri Rd 117 stop.
Route 39 driver will pick up all the Balmacewen school kids from Taieri Rd 117 stop and the driver needs to wait until 3:15pm.
Timetable - King's and Queen's High Schools to Green Island
Timetable - Green Island to King's and Queen's High Schools
Route 40 leaves from Green Island at 8am and leaves from Macandrew Road via King's and Queen's High Schools at 3:15pm to return to Green Island. This supports students travelling from Green Island or transferring at Green Island.
A single larger capacity bus has replaced the two buses that ran last year.
To allow for students from Green Island and further out to get into the city to attend Kings and Queens High school, route 40C (an existing school service) has been modified slightly to extend to Green Island.
The service now also operates in the morning, allowing a direct connection from Green Island to the schools. (Route 40C was previously an afternoon only service, extending from the schools to Lookout Point.)
From Tuesday 28 January, the morning service departs at 8am from Green Island Super Stop (inbound), and travels (without stopping) to the high schools (this replaces the previous 8:25am bus which will not be running from Tuesday 28 January 2025).
- The arrival time should be between 8:10am and 8:20am depending on traffic.
In the afternoon, the service departs at 3:15pm from Bathgate Park school. The bus then does a loop, travelling around Bay View Rd to the front of Kings and Queens schools, picking up students. The service drops students off up to lookout point, then travels direct to Green Island.
- Estimated arrival time at Green Island Super Stop (outbound) is between 3:35pm – 3:40pm, depending on traffic.
Timetable - Kaikorai Valley College to Green Island
Timetable - Brighton to Kaikorai Valley College
The 8:18am route 70 bus from Green Island continues to Kaikorai Valley College without stopping after leaving Green Island. The 3:05pm route 70 bus will head back from Kaikorai Valley College to Green Island in the opposite direction.
To allow for students to get from Green Island to Kaikorai Valley College, Route 70 has been modified to extend as far as the school in the morning and the afternoon.
The route 70 from Brighton arrives at 8.18am, and after connecting with the 77 (city), will travel from Green Island Super Stop (inbound) to KVC, arriving at approximately 8.30am.
In the afternoons, the service will depart from KVC at 3.05pm, travelling to Green Island and terminating at Green Island Super Stop (Outbound). Students can transfer to the Route 77 service to Mosgiel at 3.29pm or to the 70 service to Brighton at 4pm.
The Ministry of Education may provide some school transport options, which includes a bus service in some areas. This is different from the public transport provided by Orbus which is available to anyone and not for the exclusive use of students.
Helpful info
Bee Card
Learn everything about the Bee Card, such as why you should get one, how to get it and how to use it.
Transit app
Learn more about the free Transit app to plan your journey and track your bus, along with where you can get the app.
Track your bus in real-time
Learn how Orbus's real-time tracking works so you can see where and when your bus is arriving at your bus stop.
Dunedin bus timetables
Discover all the different bus routes and times in Dunedin, including to Mosgiel and Palmerston.
Queenstown bus & ferry timetables
Discover the times for all Queenstown bus and ferry routes, including specific school bus times. You can also find downloadable timetables.
Contact us
Get in touch with our fantastic customer services team if you have any questions or feedback on our Orbus services.
