New Waihi Beach to Tauranga bus trial

A trial of a new bus service between Tauranga and Waihi Beach will begin next month.

The new service starts on Thursday, October 1, as the result of changes to the Katikati to - Tauranga route. The service will now include Waihi Beach as part of its three-day-a-week service.
Once in Tauranga, the service will no longer travel to Greerton and The Lakes, however passengers are able to catch other Bayhopper services to complete their journey.

Lyall Thurston, Bay of Plenty Regional Councillor and Chair of the Public Transport Subcommittee said the trial was the result of requests from the community for the service and the Regional Council was happy to be able to trial changes to the service to officially gauge demand.

"We're committing to the trial until June next year, which should give the community the opportunity to use the service during regular week times and also during the summer period when we suspect it may be popular with holidaymakers wanting to spend a few hours in Tauranga.

"One thing we've been told is that some Waihi Beach residents are currently driving into Katikati to catch the existing service from there, so we hope this reduces that need and makes the journey slightly easier," Mr Thurston said.

"However with all trials, it will only be as good as the feedback we receive, so we do encourage people to fill out a form which will be available on the bus, and let us know how you find it."

The service will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and begins at Katikati.

From there it will travel into Waihī Beach, back to Katikati and through to Tauranga via Omokoroa. The Katikati Commuter and Ōmokoroa Commuter routes and timetables will not change.

• Waihi Beach - Katikati - Omokoroa - Tauranga Shopper service begins Thursday 1 October
• Service replaces the existing Katikati - Omokoroa - Tauranga Shopper service. It will extend to Waihi Beach in the west, and finish at Wharf Street in the CBD. The service will no longer travel to Tauranga Hospital, Greerton and The Lakes, however passengers can travel on Bayhopper routes 1, 2 and 59 to complete this portion of the journey.
• The Katikati and Omokoroa Commuter services still go to Tauranga Hospital
• The fare from Waihi Beach to Tauranga is $10 adult, $6 concession. A full fare table is available from the Baybus website at www.baybus.co.nz