Queenstown principals, parents push back on possible govt bus cuts

Katie Todd, RNZ senior journalist

Queenstown principals and parents are pushing back after the Ministry of Education signalled it may pull the plug on free school buses.

The ministry is reviewing its bus services for eight primary and secondary schools in Queenstown with a view to moving students onto public buses in future.

It said it was a "school transport provider of last resort", which would not provide a duplicate service if public transport was already available.

Wakatipu High School principal Oded Nathan said he wanted a meeting with the ministry, the Otago Regional Council, which ran public buses in Queenstown, and other schools about any proposed changes because a shift to the public system could lead to "a significantly detrimental impact on students at multiple levels, and families".

Some children would have to navigate busy highways to get to public bus stops, and others would face an hour-long commute, he said.

Students who had tried to catch public services in the past had run into issues with full buses, "which means that the students are arriving to school late and this is having a significant impact on their education", Nathan said.

"The last component of it is we have a number of students and families that rely on these freely available buses, and there would be an increased financial burden on students and their families if they then have to pay," he said.

• Listen to Checkpoint: Shake-up possible for free Queenstown school bus service

Kelvin Heights resident Naomi Gibson said she was thrilled for her 7-year-old son to catch the free school bus to Remarkables Primary School each morning for two years, but she would not feel the same way about the public bus system.

 

"I wouldn't put my kids on the public bus system at all, I would be driving them every day... I wouldn't feel safe. I've got a four-and-a-half-year-old who is going to be on the bus at the end of the year, and there'd be no way I'd be putting him on there," she said.

"A lot of other parents would also be driving every day, so the extra traffic on the road would be a bit of a shame, really."

In a statement, the Ministry of Education said regional councils had greater flexibility to provide transport which met communities' needs.

But Otago Regional Council said in a "constrained co-funding environment", it would be unable to fully replace the bus services withdrawn by the Ministry of Education.

Council chair Gretchen Robertson said the council was increasing the frequency of its buses from 1 July; however, "ORC's public transport services are not intended to be replacements for these separate Ministry of Education school bus services".

School buses were among several local public transport initiatives hanging in the balance.

 

The Otago Regional Council had cut proposed improvements to the Queenstown ferries out of its draft annual plan, along with a business case for public transport in Wānaka and the surrounding area.

Meanwhile, the Transport Agency was asking councils to boost the percentage of public transport operating costs covered by passenger fares, to what Queenstown Lakes deputy mayor Quentin Smith described as an "untenable" target of 40 percent.

"There's no question we're disappointed. We know that public transport is a really important part of managing our transport networks into the future.

"We know the $2 bus service in Queenstown has been incredibly effective and has really good levels of uptake. We have a strong community desire for public transport in the Upper Clutha, and improved public transport... and events seems to conspire against us to deliver that."

The Ministry of Education said it would seek feedback from schools on any proposed bus changes, but not from affected communities.

Parents would get at least one term's notice before any changes, the ministry said.