All aboard: Tauranga's free school buses a hit, but only in the afternoons

Aquinas College Parent-Teacher Association head Lee-Anne Taylor (right) with college deputy principal Kust Kennedy and students Sam Way and Ben Sokimi. Photo / File

A fare-free school bus trial in Tauranga has proven popular, for children travelling home at least.

Figures obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times reveal an overall increase in schoolchildren catching the bus during a free six-month trial in Welcome Bay, which has now been expanded to the wider city from today. But figures suggest children are still being driven to school in the mornings.

The trial means students, in uniform, travelling on dedicated school buses or urban Bayhopper routes can travel free before 9am and between 2.30pm and 6.30pm on schooldays. This morning , children travelling to Maungatapu School will be the first of the new Tauranga-wide trial.

Last July the Bay of Plenty Regional Council agreed to fund a year's trial of a citywide free school bus fare scheme for students travelling to and from school.

The decision, adopted into the regional council's 2019/20 annual plan, followed six months of a free school bus trial already in place for Welcome Bay students. It also followed years of lobbying by parents.

During the Welcome Bay trial, which ran from June to December last year, children boarded the buses 50,327 times in the afternoon compared with 38,669 times in the morning. In the same time period the year before, children boarded 34,177 times in the afternoon compared with 22,485 boardings in the morning.

Council public transport committee chairman Andrew von Dadelszen said the reason behind the increase in afternoon boardings was largely due to children being dropped off at school in the morning and catching the bus home.

Von Dadelszen said the free trials were aimed at helping alleviate some of Tauranga's current and future commuter congestion. The scheme will cost $326,000 in the annual plan.

"It's hoped the transport trials will provide some solid information for staff to use when the decision of whether or not to continue them on a permanent basis is made," Von Dadelszen said.

Parent Lee-Anne Taylor has long called for the return of free school buses to Tauranga.

Taylor, head of the Aquinas College Parent-Teacher Association, said she saw the impact on families trying to get children to school daily. She was hopeful the citywide trial would have a significant impact.

"I would hope that more families in the region use the free school bus service and the traffic issues ease as a result," she said.

"I think the free buses will have a huge impact in several layers of the community. Already I have had families saying that they will have extra money to spend on necessities with the savings."

Taylor said she also knew of families who could not afford to send their children on the bus and would instead keep them home but would now "hopefully be able to go".

Greater Tauranga's Heidi Hughes could not be reached by deadline but has previously described the expansion of the trial "admirable".