Locals and visitors accompanied by boogie boards, beach bags, skateboards and shopping bags piled on board the Mangawhai Village to Beach bus over summer, turning out in even greater numbers than previous years of the trial service.

Close to 3000 trips were taken on the free bus, which ran daily 27 December – 17 January and then every weekend and public holiday through to 08 February. Coming into the third year of a trial supported by Kaipara District Council, Northland Regional Council, and Waka Kotahi NZTA, the service saw a 17 percent increase in use when compared to the same period 27 December – 07 February, last year. Local outfit Leabourn Passenger Service Limited operate the buses.

Improvements have been made to the service after every season. Following the second year of the trial last year, Council asked users to provide feedback on the service, so further improvements could be made for the third and final year of the trial. This included adding an extra stop at the backpackers, and installing specific Village to Beach Free Bus loop signage so the stops were more easily identified.

Gail Fotheringham, Community Advisor for Kaipara District Council says the success of the trial demonstrates a clear need for a bus service during the summer months.

“Despite COVID restrictions Mangawhai has still hosted a ton of visitors and been incredibly busy over the summer months. With the increase in people comes a much higher volume of vehicle traffic. The bus eases some of that congestion created between the Village and the Heads, and alleviates pressure on the carpark at the beach and other places like MAZ.”

Gail also notes that the service “supports community members who don’t drive or own a vehicle, to get around and experience everything Mangawhai has to offer.”

“Taking the bus saves younger ones having to rely on their parents to be the family chauffeur, which in turn minimises the traffic caused by multiple pick-up and drops-offs.”

The project team will now look at future feasibility and funding options and bring a report to Council meeting for consideration.

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