Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s bus operator, GoBus, has advised the Council of a serious shortage of drivers and ongoing illness, prompting the temporary suspension of 20 local bus services.
Regional Council General Manager Policy & Regulation, Katrina Brunton says the region’s 141 services will return to normal when GoBus has enough drivers to sustain a full timetable.
“The national bus driver shortage is hitting hard and is compounded by ongoing seasonal illness/COVID-19. Our Operator is advising that they are currently not able to recruit enough drivers to run a full service,” said Ms Brunton.
“They are working to recruit new bus drivers but this and training will take some time.
“We will be actively monitoring the situation to see if circumstances change.”
She said the reduced schedule had been designed with GoBus to ensure that services are provided at key times as often as possible.
