For the first half of the current financial year – covering from July 2025 to December 2025 – Queenstown passenger numbers rose by 6% to 1,031,075 trips. In Dunedin, passenger numbers decreased by 0.5% to 1,728,936 trips, says ORC’s Transport Portfolio Co-lead Cr Matt Hollyer. 

“We are really pleased to see public transport passenger numbers in Queenstown are continuing to grow, highlighting the ongoing demand for our bus and ferry services. It’s great that changes to the Route 4 service last year, which now connects Arrowtown to Jack’s Point via Malaghans Road, have benefited the community and resulted in significant patronage increases in those areas,” Cr Hollyer says.

Council anticipates that patronage could continue to grow.

“The bus network is working really well, and we expect ongoing growth in patronage as more people become conscious of the increasing running costs of their own vehicles. Now is a great time to get on the public transport system, even if you've never used it before.”

“The slight decrease in patronage on the Dunedin network is not cause for concern at this stage, given that Dunedin has experienced three consecutive years of record patronage

Along with increased patronage, fare revenue in Queenstown for the two quarters increased by 19% to $1,847,171, and despite Dunedin’s slight reduction in patronage, Dunedin’s fare revenue also increased- by 11% to $2,300,106. The rises in revenue reflect the adult Bee Card fare increase from $2 to $2.50 from September last year and reintroduction of child bee fares of $1.50. 

The introduction of additional ferry services in Queenstown has seen both patronage and revenue increase - patronage by 29% and fares by 20%. This is a good result, reflecting additional timetabled services from the new operator. 

Patronage for Total Mobility, a door-to-door transport service for people with limited or reduced mobility who cannot easily use typical public transport, increased by 5.3% increase for the two-quarter period, rising to 76,026 trips.

The public transport patronage and revenue data is being presented to ORC this Wednesday (25 March) for noting. The full agenda and report is now online, under meetings on www.orc.govt.nz