An overwhelming 92% of submissions on the Otago Regional Council Public Transport Plan (2025-35) said more support should be given to community transport initiatives.

At a recent workshop, regional councillors heard from staff about the work being done across the district over the past year, to address the issues.

A student researcher has been investigating the different types of transport options currently being offered across the region, including community initiatives such as St John, Red Cross, Presbyterian Support and the RSA - often run by volunteers.

There are currently between 15 and 20 different organisations providing transport assistance - mostly for health care and community engagement in the region.

Originally there were plans to trial assisting commuters living in Alexandra and Cromwell that work in Queenstown, given the high volume of traffic across the district.

But it was downscaled back to just an investigation in 2025 due to government co-funding constraints.

Cr Neil Gillespie asked whether there was a role for the ORC to support the community groups, as it appeared there was some duplication of the same services.

“I’m not convinced that we are well connected and co-ordinated.”

Research has shown that public bus services between Cromwell-Alexandra and Alexandra-Wanaka are well utilised. Image: supplied

Staff confirmed many of the groups worked in isolation with limited funding and volunteers, and provided some examples of other areas such as Canterbury where local government funding support models have worked well.

A Community Vehicle Trust was one option where the existing volunteer model could move from being wholly community owned to having financial assistance from the ORC as a subsidised service.

ORC staff will prepare a paper for the March regional council meeting, for councillors to look at some of the options, including a dedicated resource such as a community transport advisor to engage with the groups.

A core aspiration for the council's involvement is to be an enabler for community groups, rather than becoming a direct service provider.

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