Free travel to city's museum rolls on

The Rotorua museum bus will continue this year.

City kids from low decile schools will continue to enjoy free travel to Rotorua Museum this year.

The Ngati Whakaue Education Endowment Trust Board has confirmed it will fund the museum bus for a fifth year - providing free transport to the museum for all decile one to five schools in the Rotorua region.

Rotorua Museum's head of education, Emma Liley, is delighted by the news.

"Museum research shows the major barrier to lower decile schools participating on our programmes is the cost of transport," she said.

"The renewal of this project, thanks to the generosity of Ngati Whakaue Education Endowment Trust, provides a fantastic opportunity for students to understand the rich history and culture of Rotorua as well as explore significant touring exhibitions."

Since funding for the bus was first granted in term two 2010, more than 18,000 Rotorua students from 34 local primary, intermediate and secondary schools have taken advantage of the free bus. The museum bus is provided by Ritchies Transport.