Any previous scepticism around 100 senior citizens may have had about bus travel has broken down. Driven by Age Concern Nelson Tasman, the ‘All On Board’ campaign embarked in September 2024 to pick up more local eBuses passengers and some are now making a beeline to catch them regularly.
Information sessions at retirement villages, church, Probus and SeniorNet groups were loaded with an overall 270 inquisitive seniors sussing bussing, and nearly 100 registered for a seat on monthly or bimonthly group journeys on the eBus routes 2 to 6.
Nineteen bus buddies assisted the eBus novices in their introduction to the mode of transport.
With June bringing the initiative’s first nine months to a stop, it is now in second gear until December with another round of Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council funding.
Age Concern Nelson Tasman community support coordinator Jackie MacIntyre says the social connection, and confident, free, and sustainable travel that local seniors had got on board with through the initiative was “very pleasing”.
“Transport is quite a big issue in our area. We’ve seen the number of cars on the road, so if we can get older people to travel in a more sustainable way and it’s comfortable and stress-free, then I’m all for it.
“Now we’ve had the funding extended, I can actually run some more eBus journeys. I’ll probably run them with a bit more excitement so that we try something new and visit areas in the Nelson Tasman area so it’s more of an outing.”
