ORC still will not change bus route
PUPILS of a Dunedin intermediate school who catch the bus from the Otago Peninsula are faced with arriving nearly 15 minutes late each day, after the Otago Regional Council again declined to make minor changes to their bus route.
Yesterday morning, Macandrew Bay parent Jason Graham and about 30 Tahuna Normal Intermediate School pupils, including his son Tristan, caught the No 18 commuter bus, now the only option for pupils after the ORC withdrew from providing contracted schoolbus services last year.
They arrived at the stop outside the Andersons Bay Rd McDonald’s at 8.34am.
Many pupils had stood on the packed bus to allow other commuters to sit.
They then began a walk of almost 2km to Tahuna, crossing several busy streets, before arriving at 8.59am, 14 minutes after the school’s start time.
Mr Graham said that was not good enough.
Pupils needed a shorter walk from a closer bus stop which would not require them, some as young as 11, to cross several busy streets at peak time, he said.
About 100 to 120 pupils of schools including Tahuna, King’s, Queen’s and Bayfield High Schools live on the peninsula.
Mr Graham had proposed two alternative bus routes to the ORC which would reduce the current 1.7km walk to school from the bus stop for Tahuna pupils, but his proposals had been voted against by the ORC last month.
He said the ORC needed to take action before the second school term began on April 30.
Year 8 Tahuna pupil Hazel McDermott said she felt fairly confident crossing the road in the large group, which included dozens of classmates along with adults in highvis vests yesterday. But she thought it would be a more dangerous proposition for smaller groups without chaperones.
‘‘I wouldn’t feel as safe crossing alone.’’
Tahuna principal Tony Hunter said it would not take much to make sure his pupils arrived at his school at the start time of 8.45am, and suggested adding a stop near the Musselburgh shops for the two journeys back and forth to avoid the Andersons Bay Rd crossings.
‘‘We’re not asking for major changes.
‘‘At the moment there’s no hope of them arriving on time.’’
Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope agreed, and said the ORC needed to take action, especially after yesterday’s walk and late arrival.
‘‘They’d be silly not to listen.’’ Mr Pope echoed Mr Hunter’s suggestion that only a small change, such as adding a stop further up Andersons Bay Rd to avoid some of the crossings, would make a big difference.
‘‘Even stopping at the BP would be a great improvement.’’
Yesterday’s bus trip followed a public meeting of concerned parents at Macandrew Bay School last week after the ORC declined to adopt Mr Graham’s suggested changes.
ORC councillor and Otago regional transport committee chairman Trevor Kempton said the council was open to changing the timetable to better accommodate the pupils, but he stopped short of saying it would consider changing routes.
‘‘While we are open to investigating potential changes to the timetable, we’re not expecting to make the route changes suggested at this point,’’ he said.