“We appreciate the frustration and uncertainty caused, for parents, children and schools in the district with respect to proposed changes to school bus services, however Otago Regional Council is not the decision maker for school bus services.”

“School bus services are fully funded and operated by the Ministry of Education and are separate to the public transport network we operate,” she says.

 While public bus patronage is continuing to grow, ORC’s public transport services are not intended to be replacements for these separate Ministry of Education school bus services, she says.

“When the Ministry of Education have made decisions to withdraw school services, ORC staff strive to accommodate the gaps for school students in terms of both timetables and routes, however in a constrained co-funding environment, we are unable to fully replace Ministry of Education services that they have decided to withdraw.”

In Queenstown, we have increased frequency services commencing from 1 July which will support additional capacity for all passengers. Specific timetable and route changes will be announced shortly.

CR Robertson says ORC staff work with MoE and the withdrawal of school services is one of the topics which is discussed.

“We have not been formally advised by the Ministry of Queenstown school bus services being withdrawn at this point and understand the Ministry is required to provide 12 weeks notice of service withdrawal.”
“We will continue to work with MoE to understand when their services may be withdrawn, emphasise the need for strong engagement with the local schools and the community, and in the event of school services ceasing, consider how we can support students to get safely to and from school on our existing public network”.