“It’s been a really silly system for a long time” and “it’s a matter of time before an accident does happen” are two descriptions of a Dominion Rd school bus stop, off SH60.
The bus stop offers 32 Garin and 100 Waimea College students living in the area free transport to and from their respective colleges.
Some Māpua and Ruby Bay-based students travel past Māpua School, where their bus parks overnight, to their zoned bus stop 3km away.
The bus stop has a double whammy with around 50 vehicles unloading and collecting students at around 7.30am and 4pm each day, and trucks using Dominion Rd travelling between sites like nearby orchards.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) remains adamant the Dominion Rd stop complies with Waka Kotahi’s safe siting guidelines.
Concerned public say, on rainy days some students, who can’t be dropped off, walk across the 100kmh highway because the pedestrian underpass, which provides access to the bus stop, floods.
Caregivers say the bus stop is unfair, particularly as Māpua and Ruby Bay-based Motueka High School student’s bus stop is located at Māpua School.
They say a Transport Eligibility Zone (TEZ) change, which is set by the MoE, would overturn the “silly system”, and enable Waimea and Garin College students to also use the Māpua School stop.
Amber Bonny’s daughter Zoe and son Isaac walk to the bus stop from Dawson Rd. They attend Waimea College, rather than Motueka High School, due to their Richmond-based sporting commitments.
Amber has campaigned for the MoE to deliver change, with local parents, the colleges and groups like Tasman District Council’s support since July 2022, but no change has come about.
“It’s been a really silly system for a long time... the bus leaves Māpua, drives across the highway, and picks up the kids where it could just let them on at Māpua School, which is a safe, big area,” she says.
“When the underpass floods my kids end up jumping the barrier and running across the highway, which is not awesome at all… and [the MoE] says ‘no, we’re not changing [the bus stop’s location]’.”
Māpua parent Lizzie Graham is equally concerned by the bus stop’s ongoing pandemonium. She transports her daughter Gabbi Brabant, who attends Garin College, to and from the stop.
“Every day that you’re there there’s someone who makes a bad decision, or a kid almost gets hit. It’s a matter of when, not if, someone’s going to get injured or even killed there,” she says.
“The other day I dropped Gabbi off and a kid was walking along the side of the road of the motorway trying to get to the bus because they were late… because of the weather.”
Mahana-based Thawley Logistics managing director, Aaron Thawley, says he encounters monthly near misses between trucks and students at the bus stop area and has witnessed students walking across SH60.
“I think it’s a matter of time before an accident or incident does happen, whether that’s a car, bus, or person gets hit.”
MoE school transport group manager, James Meffan, says the ministry doesn’t require children to walk in unsafe situations under any circumstances.
“Caregivers are responsible for safely transporting their children to and from their school bus stop and as such are best placed to decide the safest way to do this,” he says.
“We remain satisfied that the Dominion Rd bus stop meets Waka Kotahi’s safe siting guidelines and therefore meets our conditions as safe to use.”
While the distance from Māpua to both Motueka High School and Waimea College is almost identical, James says Māpua-based students attending the college aren’t attending their closest state school but are eligible to transfer their assistance from Motueka High School to Waimea College.
“When a student transfers their eligibility, they must make their own way to an existing bus stop within their chosen school’s TEZ.
“While caregivers have the right to choose where they enrol their children, the eligibility criteria for school transport assistance are intended to ensure the ongoing viability and integrity of local schooling networks by supporting students to attend their closest school.”
