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Public demand prompts Kamo west to CBD bus trial

Monday 24 September 2012, 11:10AM

By Northland Regional Council

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WHANGAREI

Public demand has prompted Whangarei’s CityLink public bus service to begin trialling a twice-daily service linking the Kamo west area with the city’s central business district from October.
Enthusiastic residents of the Jane Mander Retirement Village enjoying a familiarisation session ahead of the October 01 launch of a trial new CityLink service linking Kamo west with the central business district.

The CityLink service is operated by NorthBus and contracted to the Northland Regional Council.

Sharlene Selkirk, Public Passenger Transport Officer for the regional council, says the new route will be trialled Monday to Friday from Monday 01 October until the end of January next year.

Mrs Selkirk says while demand from the public has sparked the trial, the service will only become permanent if that support translates into ticket sales.

“Basically, it’s now up to local residents to use the service; passenger numbers will be monitored fortnightly, and if there are sufficient numbers the regional council will consider making this route permanent.”

Mrs Selkirk says among those enthusiastic about the new ‘Fairway Drive 7’ route are residents of Fairway Drive’s Jane Mander Retirement Village.  (Village residents and fellow SuperGold card holders can travel for free on the new service’s morning trip, but will have to pay a fare on afternoon trips.)

Mrs Selkirk says CityLink and the regional council visited the village earlier this month to offer its residents a familiarisation trip along the proposed route before the trial starts.

About 35 residents had taken advantage of the offer, which demonstrated how to get on and off the buses safely and brought them up to speed with the fleet’s features, including buses’ ability to ‘kneel’ to make it easier to board, stop buttons and the on-board closed circuit television service.

Mrs Selkirk says the departure times are as follows:

Depart Rose St; 10.00am & 3.20pm
Arrive Whau Valley; 10:12am & 3:32pm
Arrive top of Fairway Dr; 10:20am & 3:40pm
Arrive 3 Mile Bush Rd; 10:23am & 3:43pm
Arrive Kamo shops; 10:26am & 3:46pm
Arrive Kensington; 10:37am & 3:57pm
Arrive Rose Street; 10:45am & 4:05pm

She says those times are approximate only and as with other CityLink routes, the trial service will not operate on weekends or public holidays.

For general information about CityLink Whangarei buses, including timetables and routes, visit www.nrc.govt.nz/bus or call NorthBus on 438 7142.