- NZ Bus
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NZ Bus Type Private Industry Public Transport Founded 1992 (as Stagecoach New Zealand)Headquarters Wellington, New Zealand Parent Infratil NZ Bus, formerly Stagecoach New Zealand, is New Zealand's largest bus company, operating in Auckland, Wellington and Whangarei, with a fleet of around 1,000 vehicles. It owned 96% of Fullers Ferries in Auckland but has sold this shareholding. It is owned by Infratil.
Contents
History
Stagecoach New Zealand was part of the British Stagecoach Group, and began operation in 1992 by purchasing Wellington City Transport, the largest bus operator in Wellington, from Wellington City Council. WCT had recently purchased the Auckland, Hutt Valley and north Wellington suburban bus operations of New Zealand Railways Road Services, then branded CityLine.
Stagecoach greatly expanded its Auckland operations in 1998 by purchasing Transportation Auckland Corporation (trading as The Yellow Bus Company) from the Auckland Regional Council.
Infratil bought the firm from Stagecoach in November 2005. The Stagecoach Group agreed to let Infratil use the name and livery for five years from the sale.
In January 2008 the company brought Whangarei school and charter business Adams Travelines, which has since won the tender to provide the urban bus service for Whangarei as Citylink Whangarei, using super low floor buses.
Company rebranding
Former Name Depots New Name Notes Stagecoach Auckland North Shore
Hibiscus CoastNorth Star Rebranded on 4 December 2006.
Blue and yellow livery.Swanson GO WEST Rebranded on 23 February 2008.
Green with graphicsCity
Mt Roskill
PanmureMetrolink Rebranded on 12 October 2008.
Blue and silver livery.City The Link Rebranded on 14 September 2007.
Pale green livery.Wiri Waka Pacific Rebranded on 16 February 2009.
Silver livery, with multi-coloured patterns influenced by traditional Maori designs.Stagecoach Wellington Various GO Wellington Announced in November 2006.
Operating since early 2007.
Yellow and black livery.Cityline Hutt Valley Various Valley Flyer Rebranded on 21 November 2007.
Purple and yellow livery.Smart Card Ticketing
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. The new system is called Snapper, and is based on RFID technology embedded in cards or portable devices such as USB sticks. The system was introduced on Friday April 4, 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, it is a joint venture between Seoul Metropolitan Government and LG Group, and has introduced T-money to six major cities in Korea.
NZ Bus will be fitting out the Auckland fleet with Snapper in 2010, despite losing an contract to provide Smart Card Ticketing to all public transport services in the Auckland Reigon.[1] NZ Bus are going ahead with their Snapper roll-out in Auckland despite no other public transport providers signing up to Snapper. The Auckland Regional Transport Authority plans rolls out their own smart card ticketing system. All public transport operators in Auckland, including NZ Bus, will be required by law to accept smart cards issued by the Authority. NZ Bus have suggested that their Snapper system will be able to accommodate the Authority's smart cards. However it is not known whether Snapper's cards will be able to be used on services operated by operators other than NZ Bus.
See also
- GOWellington
- Valley Flyer
References
External links
Bus transport in New Zealand Urban bus companies Go Bus Transport (Go Bus Christchurch) · NZ Bus (GOWest - Northstar - The Link - Metrolink - Waka Pacific - GOWellington - Valley Flyer) · Leopard Coachlines Ltd · Passenger Transport · Red Bus Ltd · Ritchies Transport · Souter Holdings (Howick & Eastern - Mana Coach Services - Newlands Coach Services)Long distance bus companies Tourism bus companies Bus manufacturers Government and regulation History Infrastructure Categories:- Bus companies of New Zealand
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