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.
