Long distance coach travel in Aotearoa New Zealand

By Ross Clark

It may not seem obvious, when trying to revive long distance passenger rail in New Zealand, as to why we also need to look at inter-urban bus services. These services have been declining for many years, with consequences for that part of the population which could be considered to be, "transport-disadvantaged".
 
My working paper, Scheduled inter-urban coach & shuttle travel in New Zealand: an assessment of market size and market trends 

• provides some information on the size of inter-urban bus and coach traffic, comparing 2002 and 2017
• updates this information with an estimate of current market activity, noting the changes over time in tourist flows as well
• provides several reasons why we need a national policy and plan for inter-urban bus services; and,
• details what a policy and planning document would need to include.