26/08/2026
An update on the Service going forward.... We ( the Shuttle Team ) were only here to prove a service was needed; as of the end of September, we step down and ORC steps into the breach ...
We thank you for coming along on this journey with us..We have so enjoyed it and all the positive comments/conversations !!!
Meantime we still have a month to run so call and book your seat on the Community Shuttle for the month of September... Monday Thursday or Friday..
Hey Oamaru, Trevor from Hireplus again. I just want to update you all on the current service we put in place for you and clarify some confusion around the new service Regional Council is putting in place on October 1st. I have also read some comments about the bus service being a waste of money.
As you know we have been running a trial to show the need for a service for this community and have adjusted the service after your input on how it needs to work for you. Initially, it was only to meet the Orbus in Palmerston but when you told us direct to Dunedin is what you wanted, we changed the service and started running 3 days direct to Dunedin Twice daily. It has been a resounding success and we travel most days with a full bus. We have provided a service for people living along the highway in Maheno, Herbert, Moeraki and Palmerston who have needed to get to Dunedin or come back to Oamaru. This wouldn't have happened had you not helped us make it happen. ORC have been nothing but receptive to the needs of Oamaru in helping us ensure a service would carry on after the completion of the trial. The ORC transport staff have pushed everything we have asked for when we presented ourselves to council meetings and the councillors were on board with what we asked for with 100% agreement.
To ensure the ongoing service, ORC tendered the run and found the option came back as very affordable. As you know, we asked for some of the rates you had already paid to trial a bus service around Oamaru that never eventuated to help run the service and you also paid a nominal ride fee to assist in these costs. We are finishing our service on September 30th and the ORC bus service begins the next day. The new bus service will be departing Oamaru around 8.30am, which is not so different from our current departure time and departing Dunedin around 4.30pm-5pm. This departure time has not been fully decided as yet but certainly looks like these times will be it.
I need to make sure that everyone understands that there has been thousands of man hours put in to make sure you will have the service you have been asking for over many years. After being told by our past mayor, after years of not getting anywhere that the possibility of an Oamaru Dunedin bus service was dead in the water, in less than a year you the community have made it happen by getting involved, having a say and then asking for changes to suit your needs. This would never have happened if you didn't get involved. Now you are going to have an ongoing service 7 days per week that may need tweaking as it goes along but this won't happen unless you make sure you let the services know what doesn't work. That's exactly how we got this far. Please don't sit back and knock it or condemn it before it has a chance. Get behind it make it work. Regional Council have guidelines they need to go by but I know first hand that they are prepared to work with the community as long as the community work with them. They don't have all the answers and welcome feedback that they can draw on to make changes when they can. Knocking something without getting involved only confuses the issue and gets us nowhere.
Finally, now that we do have confidence in an ongoing service, I am now looking at how we get those of you that don't drive or can't drive or have no way of getting to pick up points for the new service in an affordable way. I have already started discussions around putting such a service in place around Oamaru. We need an around town bus service, similar to the My Way service in Timaru. I am looking at this service being available in Kakanui, Maheno, Weston and Pukeuri, possibly also Glenavy. I am about to hold a public meeting, just as we did in September last year when i floated the idea of an Oamaru to Palmerston bus service. I want as many of you as possible to have a think about how you see such a service working for you. Maybe you just want to do your grocery shopping, maybe you just want to go visit your mates and have a cuppa or maybe just need to get to other commitments/appointments in town. I see this service being on call and shouldn't cost any more than your spare change ish. I will come back to you very shortly with a date and place for a community meeting so you can have your say. I'm also happy for you to wave me down or stop me if you see my health shuttle, yes it's still running daily, even weekends, to tell me what you think about a bus service for Oamaru. Those of you that know me know that i don't try to reinvent the wheel when I start looking at things like this and this one is no different. It's not rocket science, we just need to make it happen. Have a think for me.
Cheers Trevor See less
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