Bus change dangerous: mum

Lisa Prior's two teenage children now have to walk along or across a dangerous State Highway 29 to get to their school bus after routes were changed. Photo / John Borren

A Bay mother says her teenage children risk their lives crossing State Highway 29 because of a school bus route change.

Lisa Prior said the situation was dangerous and a serious safety issue for her son and daughter because the bus no longer went past their home.

"They are running a gauntlet every day ... I just worry about them," she told the Bay of Plenty Times. "Who is going to be responsible when one of them gets killed?"

She said her 14-year-old children had caught the bus for eight years outside their home as it looped up to Hanga Rd.

"My kids think I am dramatising things because they quite like walking. But even when I take them the road is so busy with trucks and we have a double passing lane that ends right out of our driveway."

She complained to Bayline Coaches and was told new routes had changed everything.

Parent Shelley McDonald said she used to drive her teenagers 2km to the end of Hanga Rd to catch the school bus. But now it was a 14km round trip to Old Kaimai Rd or 70km a week.

She believed the changes were about cutting costs.

A bus shelter was needed at Old Kaimai Rd if that was the designated stop because up to 11 children were being dropped off and picked up, she said.

"My kids are getting dropped off in the middle of nowhere ... if I'm delayed they don't have anywhere to go."

In response to Mrs Prior's complaint, Tauranga Transport Network Group technical adviser Melissa Winter said the Prior children could either travel 200m and cross the road to catch the bus at the intersection with Old Kaimai Rd, or they could travel 500m and catch the bus at Valley View Rd without crossing the road.

When asked if it was a safety issue, she said in a written statement: "Not generally, as students can catch the bus on its way up or down the road."

The situation was unlikely to change unless the number of students living south of the Old Kaimai Rd intersection increased, she said.

"I don't think it's possible to add another bus stop on the way up the hill closer to Old Kaimai Rd, as it will be too dangerous for the bus to then pull out over the road to get across to Old Kaimai Rd."

Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty provincial president Rick Powdrell said child safety was paramount and "they have to work out a solution that is economically viable and practical and as safe as possible for the children".

Bayline Coaches would not comment, saying concerns needed to be directed to the Tauranga Transport Network Group. However, it would pass on public concerns about bus routes, changes and extra stops.

The Tauranga Transport Network had a website parents could access about routes and running times.

Ministry of Education head of education infrastructure service Kim Shannon told the Bay of Plenty Times in September several Tauranga Schools chose to receive their transport funding directly and organise their own buses and pooled their funding to form the Tauranga Transport Network Group.