News Archive

CityLink Whāngārei bus outside Old Town Hall.Currently, buses only travel in one direction - from Kamo to Tikipunga and then into the city centre – between 9.15am and 3.15pm on weekdays.  However, from Monday 14 July every second bus will run in the opposite direction along that route so Tikipunga passengers can travel directly to Kamo instead of having to go via the city centre first.  Buses will also run both directions on Saturdays.

Chris Powell, the Council’s Regional Transport Team Leader, says the Council is thrilled with the public response to the new service – launched on 01 July – and the Kamo/Tikipunga changes are a direct result of public feedback.

“With any new operation – especially one which is operating more often over longer hours – there’ll need to be the occasional tweak in response to public feedback or to improve efficiencies.”

Mr Powell says a temporary timetable sheet showing the two-way Kamo/Tikipunga route will be available from bus drivers and the Northland Regional Council’s Water St offices from tomorrow.

An up-to-date electronic version of the complete timetable will continue to be available via www.nrc.govt.nz/bus.  New printed timetables - incorporating any other changes in the near future – will be produced shortly.

Meanwhile, Mr Powell says exact passenger numbers won’t be tallied until the new service has been running for a month, however, the Council is pleased with the operation to date and user feedback has also been overwhelmingly positive.

With the recent cold snap, passengers had also been grateful that the 10 brand new low-floor, low emission buses making up the CityLink fleet had air conditioning units to keep them warm.