Invercargill Passenger Transport Ltd was a

bus company A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for ch ...

which operated public transport routes in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

as well as school transport services in those cities as well as Queenstown and

leisure Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure ...

and tourism transport services throughout the South Island of New Zealand

Company history

Invercargill Passenger Transport was formed in 1991 through the

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

of the

City Council bus fleet. In 1995 the company established a branch in

and has operated part of Dunedin's bus network since. It eventually expanded to have branches in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and Queenstown and for a period operated a fleet of coaches based in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Sold to Go bus Transport Ltd

Early Feb 2014

Go Bus Transport Go Bus Transport Ltd is a large bus company in New Zealand owned by Australian-based transport operator Kinetic Group. The company is based in Hamilton, New Zealand, and runs bus services in Hamilton, Napier, New Zealand#Buses, Hawke's Bay, Taura ...

agreed to purchase the Urban, School, Charter and Special Needs Operations of Invercargill Passenger Transport, gaining around 200+ buses and depots in Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin, Invercargill and Gore. Go Bus took over Invercargill Passenger Transport on 1 April 2014. Bus Smart cards were replaced with Bee Cards on 22 June 2020.

Invercargill depot

Invercargill depot was the head office of the company. From this depot since 1991 Passenger Transport has operated

public transport in Invercargill Transport in Invercargill, New Zealand is mostly by bus and private car. Roads Invercargill is the southernmost city on New Zealand's state highway network and is linked to Fiordland and the Catlins by the Southern Scenic Route and Dunedin and Gor ...

under contract to the Invercargill City Council, much of this with the previous council-owned bus fleet. As well as urban bus services, Passenger Transport also operate school services in Invercargill and outlying areas of

Southland, New Zealand Southland ( mi, Murihiku) is New Zealand's southernmost region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. It includes Southland District, Gore District and the city of Invercargill. The r ...

, inter-city coach services under the

nakedbus.com nakedbus.com was a provider of low-cost long-distance bus (coachline) transport services around New Zealand. It used concepts such as yield management and no-frills to provide low fares. The company is so-named because "we have stripped out the ...

franchise and a charter operation including worker transport to the

Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is an aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto Group (79.36%) and the Sumitomo Group (20.64%), via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Limited. The facility, New Zealand's only aluminium sme ...

Bluff, New Zealand Bluff ( mi, Motupōhue), previously known as Campbelltown and often referred to as "The Bluff", is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southernmost town in mainland ...

Dunedin Depot

Passenger Transport was able to expand its operations to Dunedin in the 1995 annual tender rounds of urban bus services and held a large number of services in the city. In 2011, Passenger Transport bought competitor Citibus from the

Dunedin City Council The Dunedin City Council ( mi, Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti) is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Jules ...

. Citibus, previously called Citibus-Newton, began as the municipal transport service in Dunedin known at various times as Dunedin City Transport, Dunedin Corporation Transport, Dunedin Corporation Tramways or DCT. DCT operated Dunedin's cable car system and trams (some of which were built by private developers) as a municipal transport department of the

. In the mid-1980s

Rogernomics In February 1985, journalists at the ''New Zealand Listener'' coined the term Rogernomics, a portmanteau of "Roger" and "economics" (by analogy with "Reaganomics"), to describe the neoliberal economic policies followed by Roger Douglas. Douglas ...

reforms, the department was incorporated as a

Local Authority Trading Enterprise A local authority trading enterprise (LATE) was an organisation established in New Zealand under the Local Government Act 1974. The 1989 legislation assigned regional councils planning and funding responsibilities, but not the transport supplier ...

and named ''Citibus Ltd''. Newton's Coachways was a charter coach, sightseeing and school bus company and was formed from an earlier business Marshall Motors in 1962 which was bought by Stewart Newton and Norma Newton (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Marshall) from Norma's uncle. In 1991 Newton's took over the Dunedin area services and fleet of the

New Zealand Railways Road Services The New Zealand Railways Road Services (NZRRS) was a branch of the New Zealand Railways Department and later the New Zealand Railways Corporation. It operated long-distance, tourist and suburban bus services and freight trucking and parcel serv ...

, then known as ''Cityline'' and re-branded it ''Newton's City Line''. Newton's was taken over by Citibus in 1993, and the combined firm traded for many years as ''Citibus-Newton Ltd'' or ''CNL''. It reverted to ''Citibus'' in 2005, but the Newton's

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

for tour and charter coaches remained in use by Invercargill Passenger Transport. In 2006 CNL took over

inter-city Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

coach operator Wanaka Connexions. By 2011, Citibus was described by city mayor

Dave Cull David Charles Cull (1 April 1950 – 27 April 2021) was the mayor of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand. He became the 57th Mayor of Dunedin in October 2010 and was re-elected in both the 2013 mayoralty race and 2016 mayoral election. Before ...

as "

haemorrhaging Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vagi ...

money", and the Dunedin City Council decided the business should be

privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

. The new owners elected to retain the 'Citibus' naming, branding the Dunedin operation Passenger Transport Citibus,McCorkindale, Wilma ''Sustainability focus of changes for Citibus'' in '' D Scene'' newspaper, Dunedin, 27 April 2011, p3 but decided to sell the Connexions business.

Christchurch depot

The Christchurch depot was primarily a charter operation with a fleet of coaches for such purposes. It also operated tour and long-distance bus services to other cities of the South Island. Previously the company operated limited urban bus services in the city.

Queenstown depot

Passenger Transport was the major operator of Ministry of Education school bus services in the Queenstown Lakes area for some years. It also operated charter services in the area as well as long-distance services to Christchurch under the

franchise.

Tourism services

Passenger Transport operated Tour coach services to

package tour A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...

operators were provided under the ''Newtons'' brand and a

double decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

sightseeing tour around

under the brand First City Tours.

Long distance services

Passenger Transport operated inter-city coach services as part of other

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

networks: * Atomic * Southern Link *

Fleet history

Citibus and its predecessors operated Leyland vehicles for nearly 90 years before their last

Leyland Leopard The Leyland Leopard was a mid-engined single-decker bus and single-decker coach chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1959 and 1982. History The Leyland Leopard was introduced in 1959. It was developed from the Leyland Tiger Cub, one of ...

bus left service in 2011

References

External links

Gobus website
{{Bus transport in New Zealand Bus companies of New Zealand Transport in Dunedin Transport in Otago Transport in Southland, New Zealand