Thursday 18 December 2025
Otago Regional Council is urging parents around the Queenstown district to plan ahead when using public transport to get their children to school, from the start of term 2 next year.
The Ministry of Education advised ORC last week that they have reported the outcome of their review into school bus provisions to affected Queenstown schools. The schools have since been sharing the outcomes with their communities.
ORC’s General Manager Regional Planning and Transport, Anita Dawe, says while ORC does not provide school buses nor have plans to replace any school bus services, its public transport services could be an option for many of the affected students.
Ms Dawe says ORC will work closely with the MoE and the affected schools to ensure parents have information about the availability of public bus services but reiterated that at this time ORC is not able to replace school bus services as they are currently delivered.
“We acknowledge that MoE has put on some interim routes in place which will provide support for school students and help maintain capacity on the network. We’ll continue to work with MoE to understand potential impacts when these interim routes are discontinued.”
School bus services for Queenstown students are unaffected at the resumption of term 1 next year and will not be changing until the beginning of term 2.
“Some schools are not on public bus routes; so we expect to receive requests to redesign routes or add in special school term bus services. Currently, we’re not in a position to do this, due to resource constraints, both financially and in terms of the availability of buses and drivers,” she says.
“We note that based on our understanding of the number of students impacted by the proposals, there is currently not enough capacity on the public network at peak times.”
What is the Otago Regional Council’s role in transport?
The Otago Regional Council manages the Orbus public transport network in Queenstown, which includes a bus and ferry network. ORC’s current Queenstown public transport network does not include any dedicated school services; those services have been funded by the Ministry of Education.
Why is this change coming?
The Ministry of Education is only funded to support eligible students and periodically reviews its school bus routes to ensure they remain within its school transport assistance policy settings. They have recently reviewed the school bus routes in Queenstown, which has prompted the changes.
How will I know if my child is affected?
If your child catches a Ministry of Education operated service, your school will let you know if their service is being impacted. If it is, this will be because your child is no longer eligible.
What is a Bee Card and how much does it cost?
Catching a bus on the Orbus public transport network is simple and affordable with a Bee Card. If you are catching the public bus for the first time, everything you need to know is on the website including journey planning, fare information, Bee Card information, real time tracking with the Transit app
· A $5 Bee Card (with a minimum $5 top-up) can be purchased from:
