Reduced timetables for all Rotorua Cityride bus services from tomorrow

Rotorua bus users are being urged to check before they travel, as the Cityride network moves to a second phase of COVID-19 temporary revised bus timetables from Saturday 12 March.

Bus routes 1 to 10 will run on a Sunday timetable and Routes 11 and 12 will remain on a Saturday timetable every day due to COVID-19 impacts.  This means that all urban bus services in Rotorua will run to an hourly frequency, which is half of the normal weekday service.

The changes are being made in response to increasing driver shortages resulting from staff testing positive for COVID-19 or needing to self-isolate.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Transport and Urban Planning Manager, James Llewellyn, said the Rotorua Cityride network is being heavily impacted by the COVID-19 Omicron variant, leading to the need to urgently adapt the bus network’s timetable.

“We are responding as quickly as possible to the changing environment and hope, by moving our whole Cityride network to a reduced timetable, we will be able to provide more clarity and certainty around bus timings,” said Mr Llewellyn.

The revised bus timetable is likely to remain in place for several weeks and passengers are strongly encouraged to check the Baybus website each time they travel for any updates to the timetables, or call 0800 4 BAY BUS for the latest information.

Key points

• All Rotorua Cityride buses will be operating on a reduced COVID-19 timetable from Saturday 12 March.
• Routes 1 to 10 will operate on a Sunday timetable every day. Routes 11 and 12 moved to a revised timetable on Wednesday 9 March and will continue to operate buses on a Saturday timetable every weekday.
• Every urban bus service will run to an hourly service, which is half of the normal weekday frequency.
• Bus users should get into the habit of checking www.baybus.co.nz before they travel for any further updates to the timetables.
• Transit App and electronic signs in Rotorua will not reflect these changes, so please refer to www.baybus.co.nz or call 0800 4 BAY BUS for the latest information.
• Further timetable changes may be necessary if more staff become sick with COVID-19.

ENDS

For further media information, please contact media@boprc.govt.nz