 | |
| Formerly | Stagecoach New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Public transport |
| Founded | October 1992 |
| Founder | Stagecoach Group |
| Headquarters | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Parent | Kinetic Group |
| Website | www.nzbus.co.nz |
NZ Bus is New Zealand's largest bus company, operating in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington. Formerly a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group and later Infratil and Next Capital, it is now owned by Kinetic Group.
In October 1992 Stagecoach purchased Wellington City Transport (WCT), the largest bus-operator in Wellington, from Wellington City Council with 270 buses. [1] [2] WCT had recently purchased the Auckland, Hutt Valley and north Wellington suburban bus operations of New Zealand Railways Road Services, then branded CityLine.
Stagecoach expanded its Auckland operations in 1998 by purchasing Transportation Auckland Corporation (trading as The Yellow Bus Company) from the Auckland Regional Council with 538 buses. [3] [4] [5]
in November 2005 Infratil purchased the business. [6] [7] As part of the deal, Infratil had the right to use the "Stagecoach" name and livery for five years from the sale. [8] [9]
In January 2008 the company bought Whangarei school and charter business Adams Travelines (later rebranded as NorthBus), which has since won the tender to provide the urban bus service for Whangarei as Citylink Whangarei, using super-low-floor buses. In May 2013 NorthBus was sold to Ritchies Transport. [10]
In April 2016 NZ Bus announced that it would repower several buses with Wrightspeed gas-turbine hybrid powertrains. [11] In February 2017 NZ Bus announced it would begin the trial of a BYD K9 electric bus in Auckland and Wellington. [12]
In 2018 NZ Bus planned to reduce the size of its Wellington operations from 73% to 28% of the city's bus routes following a re-tender; many bus-route services passed to Tranzit Group. [13]
In September 2019, Infratil sold NZ Bus to Australian equity buyers Next Capital for A$218–240 million, including a vendor loan of A$20–30 million. [14] At the time of the sale, NZ Bus operated 720 buses and had 1,400 staff. [15] [16] In March 2022, the business was purchased by the Kinetic Group. [17]
| Former name | Depots | New name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stagecoach Auckland | North Shore Hibiscus Coast | North Star | Rebranded on 4 December 2006. Blue and yellow livery. |
| Swanson | AT Metro | Rebranded in 2017, with the new Western Bus Network. Blue and silver with AT Metro logo livery. | |
| Auckland Central (City) Mt Roskill Panmure | Metrolink | Rebranded on 12 October 2008. Blue and silver and grey livery. | |
| Auckland Central (City) | Link Buses | Red colour for City Link Green colour for Inner Link Orange colour for Outer Link | |
| Wiri | AT Metro | Rebranded on 16 February 2009. Silver livery, with multi-coloured patterns influenced by traditional Maori designs. Rebranded in 2016, with the new Southern Bus Network. Blue and silver with AT Metro logo livery. | |
| Stagecoach Wellington | Various | Go Wellington | Announced in November 2006. Operating since early 2007. Yellow and black livery. Rebranded from April 2018 as part of the new bus network for Metlink. Lime green blue and yellow with Metlink logo livery. |
| Cityline Hutt Valley | Various | Valley Flyer | Rebranded on 21 November 2007. Purple and yellow livery. |
From late 2015, plans called for all buses operated by NZ Bus in Auckland to gradually begin to appear in AT Metro colours as part of Auckland Transport's initiative to create one brand for the Auckland transport network. Link services continued to operate in their red, green and orange branding.[ citation needed ] Similarly, Wellington buses operated under contract to the regional council are now branded in Metlink livery, rather than in GO Wellington or Valley Flyer livery. [18]
On 20 April 2008 NZ Bus confirmed that it would start using a new ticketing system to make bus travel quicker, easier and simpler for passengers in Wellington.[ citation needed ] The new system, called Snapper, builds on RFID technology embedded in cards or in portable devices such as USB sticks. Use of the system started on 4 April 2008, being piloted on Go Wellington bus route 17 over the following two months. The supplier of the technology is Korea Smart Card (established in 2003), a joint venture between Seoul Metropolitan Government and LG Group, which has introduced T-money to six major cities in Korea.
NZ Bus fitted out its Auckland fleet with Snapper-capable equipment in 2011, despite losing a contract to provide smart-card ticketing to all public transport services in the Auckland Region. [19] NZ Bus went ahead with their Snapper roll-out in Auckland despite no other public transport providers signing up for it. Auckland Transport rolled out their own smart-card ticketing system, the AT HOP card. All public transport operators in Auckland, including NZ Bus, were required by law to accept smart cards issued by Auckland Transport. NZ Bus suggested that their Snapper system would be able to accommodate Auckland Transport's smart cards.[ citation needed ]
As of September 2017, the use of Snapper has been completely phased out in Auckland. In Wellington and Whangarei,[ citation needed ] Snapper cards can still be used by NZ Bus customers; Snapper is the interim region-wide bus ticketing system for the Metlink network in Wellington. [20]
Stagecoach Group is a Scottish transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. It previously had extensive operations in Africa, Asia, mainland Europe, North America and Oceania. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Tranz Metro was a New Zealand public transport operator. Beginning as the New Zealand Railways Corporation's Cityline division as a result of restructuring in the 1980s, in its final form Tranz Metro was the operator of Metlink's suburban trains owned by the Greater Wellington Regional Council in the Wellington Region of New Zealand.
Infratil Limited is a New Zealand-based infrastructure investment company. It owns renewable energy, digital infrastructure, airports, and healthcare assets with operations in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, the US and Europe. Infratil was founded by the late Lloyd Morrison, a Wellington-based merchant banker. Morrison's company, H.R.L. Morrison & Co, is responsible for Infratil's management and administration.
The Wellington Region has a well developed public transport system, the most used in New Zealand. It consists of electric and diesel buses, commuter trains, ferries and a funicular. It also included trams until 1964 and trolleybuses until 2017.
The New Zealand Railways Road Services (NZRRS) was a branch of the New Zealand Railways Department and later the New Zealand Railways Corporation. It operated long-distance, tourist and suburban bus services and freight trucking and parcel services. Its name was New Zealand Railways Road Motor Service until mid-1936.
GO Wellington was the brand name of Wellington City Transport Ltd, the Wellington subsidiary of NZ Bus, in New Zealand. The company was branded Stagecoach Wellington by its previous owner, the Stagecoach Group. The current name and a new livery were announced in November 2006 by NZ Bus owner Infratil.
MAXX was a public transport brand in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was introduced in 2001. It included a blue livery used on some buses and trains operated for Auckland Transport (AT). It was also used for public information and advertising branding.
Public transport in Dunedin, New Zealand is mainly by bus. The Otago Regional Council designs routes and schedules and contracts operation of bus services to two bus companies, Go Bus Transport and Ritchies Transport. Services operate daily at mainly 15 to 30-minute headways; services on evenings, weekends and holidays operate at about half the weekday frequency and there are no services on late Sunday or holiday evenings, nor on Christmas Day, Good Friday or Easter Sunday.
Public transport in New Zealand exists in many of the country's urban areas, and takes a number of forms. Bus transport is the main form of public transport. Two major cities, Auckland and Wellington, also have suburban rail systems that have been gaining more patronage and new investment in recent years. Some cities also operate local ferry services. There is no rapid transit metros and there are no remaining tram systems active anywhere in New Zealand, though trams once had a major role in New Zealand's public transport.
Public transport in Auckland, the largest metropolitan area of New Zealand, consists of three modes: bus, train and ferry. Services are coordinated by Auckland Transport under the AT Metro brand. Britomart Transport Centre is the main transport hub.
Trolleybuses in Wellington were part of the Wellington public transport system from 1924 until 1932 and again from 1949 until 2017. It was the last trolleybus system operating commercially in Oceania and the last major system operating in a country where driving is on the left side of the road.
Valley Flyer was the trading name of Cityline New Zealand Ltd, a subsidiary of NZ Bus, an Infratil company, until July 2018. It was part of the Stagecoach Group of companies, trading as Cityline Hutt Valley, and also operated services out of Papakura in Auckland before amalgamation with Stagecoach Auckland. Prior to this, the greater part of the operation was part of New Zealand Railways Road Services.
The Snapper card is a contactless electronic ticketing card used to pay for bus fares and other everyday items, such as taxis, food and coffee, in New Zealand. It was introduced in Wellington in July 2008. Another version – the Snapper HOP card – was introduced to Auckland in 2011 and withdrawn from Auckland in late 2013. Snapper CityLink cards were introduced in Whangarei in March 2014 and withdrawn in September 2018. It was owned by Snapper Services Limited, a former subsidiary of Infratil until 2019 when it was sold to ICM Limited, a subsidiary of Allectus Capital.
Waikanae railway station in Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand is the terminal station on the Kapiti Line for Metlink's electric multiple unit commuter trains from Wellington. The railway is part of the North Island Main Trunk line that connects Wellington and Auckland.
The AT HOP card is an electronic fare payment card that was released in two versions on Auckland public transport services, beginning in May 2011. The smart card roll out was the first phase in the introduction of an integrated ticketing and fares system that was rolled out across the region.
Transdev Australasia is an operator of bus, ferry, light rail and rail services in Australia and New Zealand. It is a subsidiary of French-based, international Transdev. It was formed in 2013 by grouping the operations of Veolia Transport Australia and former Transdev together, as a result of the global rebranding from Veolia Transdev to Transdev.
ManaBus.com was an intercity coach service operator in New Zealand. The company was owned by Brian Souter's InMotion Group. ManaBus and Nakedbus ceased operation on 15 July 2018, with the bus fleets being sold to Ritchies Transport Holdings, part owner of rival coach company InterCity.
The Tranzit Group is a company that operates buses in New Zealand. It was founded by Albert Snelgrove as Grey Bus Service in 1924. It became Blue Bus Service in the early 1950s and then Tranzit Coachlines in 1985. It has a 46% shareholding in InterCity.
Project NEXT is a proposed public transport payment system for New Zealand. Project NEXT was previously known as the National Ticketing Programme (NTP) from early 2016 to early 2018, preceded by the Auckland Integrated Ticketing Scheme and Auckland Integrated Fares System (AIFS) prior to that. The aim is to achieve a nationally consistent payment system, with a choice of payment by cash, phone, credit card, debit card, or a transit card valid for the whole country. Whilst work at a national level has been undertaken since 2009 and integrated ticketing has been introduced for public transport in Auckland, as of 2020 there is still no national system available. Nine smaller regional councils have meanwhile formed a consortium to introduce a common tag-on-tag-off card branded as "Bee Card" as an interim solution, with rollout of the system from November 2019. Rollout of Project NEXT is expected to start in the Canterbury region in late 2022 and be completely implemented by 2026.
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