As Otago Regional Council (ORC) prepares to rejig Queenstown’s bus timetable, a long-time resident has come up with route changes to make the network more efficient and user-friendly.

Greg Thompson, who’s suggesting changes to four of the five Orbus routes, says the main problem is presently only one route — Kelvin Heights to Frankton Flats — goes through the popular Five Mile/Queenstown Central shopping areas.

In his proposed rejig, all but one route would go through there.

Thompson suggests when the present timetable was established, those centres ‘‘where all the locals are shopping now’’ were still being developed.

As a result, he says he often sees Five Mile/Queenstown Central shoppers, laden with shopping, standing outside the exposed Bunnings bus stop, or the one opposite, waiting for their bus to the likes of Queenstown, Quail Rise, Lake Hayes Estate or Arrowtown.

‘‘The people outside Bunnings are just absolutely exposed to the weather — when a vicious southerly is blowing, this bus stop is most miserable.’’

Thompson’s other main suggestion is the longest route, Arrowtown to Arthurs Point, via Quail Rise, should be pared back to reduce schedule stress on drivers and improve reliability.

He says the Arrowtown bus could terminate instead at Sunshine Bay, meaning, when it heads back, it could pick up visitors staying at hotels along Fernhill Rd and Lake Esplanade who’d like to go to Arrowtown.

At peak times, he says extra buses could be deployed along the quicker ‘back road’ from Arrowtown to Queenstown via Arthurs Point.

Thompson says Quail Rise could be added to the Kelvin Heights-Frankton Flats run.

And Arthurs Point could be serviced by the shortest current route, Lake Hayes Estate to Queenstown.

Responding to his ideas, ORC transport manager Lorraine Cheyne says ‘‘ORC thanks Mr Thompson and will look at his supplied suggestions’’.

‘‘ORC is at present finalising Dunedin and Queenstown bus timetable changes, which will be printed and released shortly.’’

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