Community Shuttle Trial – what have we learned?

You may have heard by now that a second Community Networks/LINK Community Shuttle Trial is coming very soon, funded by QLDC and Lake Wānaka Tourism. This second trial will build on the first service – which ran for three months last year - refining the model based on feedback, and trying some new things to collect different data. We’ll be able to share the final details of that with you very soon – but for now, we’d like to share some of our findings from the first trial.

The first Community Shuttle Trial ran from September 28 – December 21 2022, connecting Hāwea, Hāwea Flat, Albert Town, Three Parks and the Wānaka CBD three days a week. Its aims were to address and enable community led action around the issue of a lack of public transport options in the Upper Clutha; to provide a short-term transport service connecting neighbourhoods in Upper Clutha in response to growing need; and to collect data to test anecdotal demand and inform longer term planning.

The full data from the first trial is available in our summary report, which is published on our website and available here. Below is a brief summary of our key learnings, which will inform this second trial.

·        In total, there were 665 rides taken on the shuttle. Around 150 individuals used the service.

·        Passenger numbers gradually increased over the three-month period, but remained fairly low. Most days, there were between 10 and 25 riders.

·        The service received an average 4.8 out of 5 star rating from users, with “comfortable,” “safe,” “convenient,” and “friendly” the most commonly used words to describe it.

·        People used the service for many reasons including to commute; to reduce their carbon footprint; change their habits; for enjoyment and for independence.

·        Some of the key barriers to people using the service were timings and frequency – e.g. the journey took too long; the bus didn’t leave at the right times; the service didn’t run often enough. While running three days a week was better than nothing, it was hard to form new habits when the service didn’t run every day. And while the bus was beneficial for people living in Hāwea coming to and from central Wānaka, it wasn’t always helpful for those living in Wānaka to get around with.

·        The price point of $2 was found to be appealing and in line with services in Queenstown.

With all of this in mind, the aim of our second trial is to refine elements of the first phase; test different network design options; and collect further patronage data and feedback. We’ll be working closely with QLDC and ORC to ensure we continue to gather the right data to inform long-term changes for our community.

Stay tuned for more on the second trial very soon! Information about the kick-off will be available on our website, where you can also subscribe to the Community Networks/LINK newsletter to keep up-to-date.