Request for information: 

• "How many dedicated school bus routes there are and how many school bus services Metlink provides per day? 
  • If you can easily produce a list of these routes, that would be much appreciated
• How many school students currently use your services, and what proportion of these use urban vs dedicated school services (if possible)? If you are able to provide some (very high level) split by area that would be excellent
• Several other agencies group their school services into separate units, rather than geographically with public services on the same corridor. Can you please tell me what the rationale was for Metlink choosing the latter? 
• When the current contracts were developed, was consideration given to allowing a lower vehicle quality standard for school buses? Why was this not adopted other than for interim fleet? 
• If any school bus routes have been removed in the last two years, and if any further routes are under consideration for removal? If so, what were the policy grounds for these withdrawals and how were complaints managed? 
• Do you receive complaints that the school bus policy as set out in 6.7c of the RPTP 2021 is too strict or not sufficiently customer friendly? How do you generally respond to such complaints? 
• Are there any specific eligibility criteria for students using school services, other than what is in the RPTP? 
• Are you aware of schools which charter school buses commercially in addition to or in place of Metlink services, and if so how many? 
• Is there anything else relevant to your experience providing school buses which you think may be beneficial for another local government public transport agency to know?" 

For a copy of the attachments to this request please email democratic.services@gw.govt.nz