Late-night public transport in Nelson is getting a shake-up, with eBus services extended to 11pm on Friday and Saturday nights and the long-running Late Late Bus set to disappear.
The Regional Transport Committee approved the change at its meeting on Tuesday.
The new service replaces the Late Late Bus, which ran from 10.30pm to 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.
“We have tried to make the Late Late bus viable. Through extra promotion in 2024, and standardized fares in 2025, but patronage has remained low,” Nelson Mayor Nick Smith says.
“The cost per passenger at $38 is too high to justify to ratepayers and NZTA.”
The Late Late Bus started in 2014 as a safe, simple night service connecting Nelson and Richmond. Since then, the way people go out has changed. National research shows fewer people are heading out after 8pm, with visits moving earlier in the day.
The eBus currently finishes at 7.30pm, leaving a three-hour gap before the Late Late Bus begins. The new operating hours close that gap.
“Our decision today is to move from a late late bus on Friday and Saturday nights, from 10pm to a new service that begins at 7.30pm,” Nick says.
“With summer here, and Spectacle and the Black Caps on the way, people can enjoy a big night out and know they have a way home.”
From Friday, 4 December, the eBus will run until 11pm every Friday and Saturday between Nelson City and Berryfields. Timetables are available at ebus.nz
“We have appropriately renamed the service ‘The Late Bus’ rather than the ‘Late Late’,” Nick says.
