Bus passengers in the Western Bay of Plenty should face only minor disruptions to their travel when legislated changes to bus driver rest and meal breaks come into effect on Monday May 6.
Changes to the Employment Relations Act means timetables may be affected for the foreseeable future while the new driver rosters are implemented.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council General Manager Strategy and Science Namouta Poutasi says the Council and its bus operators have worked closely to implement the changes as smoothly as possible.
“In particular, we have worked hard to ensure that no commuter trips into the CBD between 6am and 10am will be dropped and that the rest and meal breaks won’t affect school services.
“One trip will be dropped, with three effected during the weekend,” Ms Poutasi says.
The Route 60 service from the Tauranga CBD that leaves at 8:45am won’t operate but will start at Cambridge Road/Sterling Gate at 9:06am.
“We understand that this is not ideal, and do apologise for any inconvenience this may cause while we work through the implications of the new legislation.
“We will also continue to work closely with our operators to minimise this impact further over the coming weeks. We will also ensure that we have updated information available on the Baybus website and will also use social media to provide additional updates.”
Regional council will reinstate the Pāpāmoa, Maungatapu and Matua bus services once the full extent of the new meal break legislation is understood and managed.