25 June 2004

Ride the city with Cityride buses

For immediate release: Friday 25 June 2004 Rotorua’s new local bus service, which hits the road on July 1, now has a name and a bright new look. Called Cityride, it kicks off next Thursday with an improved 30-minute service and a special introductory fare. New-style citrus green buses will be introduced gradually over the following few weeks.

Athole Herbert, chairman of Environment Bay of Plenty’s regional development committee, says the revamped service will better meet the needs of Rotorua people. Costing $1.2 million a year to operate, it will be reliable, reasonably priced and “will get people where they want to go”, he says.

New bus timetables are now being printed and will be delivered to every household in Rotorua from next Tuesday. After that, they will also be available from the information centre and Environment Bay of Plenty’s office in Arawa St.

Environment Bay of Plenty transport policy manager Garry Maloney says four of the branded buses will be ready to roll immediately, with the number rising to 12 by the end of August. However, the 30-minute service will start right away, running from Monday to Saturday between 6.30am to 6.20pm. There will be 10 improved and more direct bus routes.

Mr Maloney says the service’s launch will be celebrated with a special offer of a flat rate fare of $1.50 for a one-way trip. “That means you pay the single fare for one, two, three or more sections,” he says. “We want to really encourage people to try it out.” The standard fare structure will be put in place when the full service becomes fully operational, with electronic ticketing machines and Smartride cards, on November 1.

Environment Bay of Plenty officially takes up the hands-on administration of the service on July 1. It has contracted local operator Reesby Buses Ltd to operate the service. The council already administers passenger transport in Tauranga and the eastern Bay of Plenty.

ENDS

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