Hamilton School Bus Service to Be Cut – But New Local Loop Proposed for Raglan

Raglan students who commute to Hamilton East for secondary school could lose their direct school drop-offs in 2028, under changes proposed by Waikato Regional Council’s consultation about new 9-year bus contracts.

For years, the Raglan–Hamilton bus route has included extra legs in the morning and afternoon to drop students at key schools, including St John’s College (also serving the University), Hamilton Boys’ High and Peachgrove Intermediate. But that arrangement is now on the chopping block.

“We propose to start and terminate all Raglan bus services at the Hamilton Transport Centre,” the consultation document states. “Most of the schools served by the Raglan service could be accessed by transferring to one of the high-frequency services (Orbiter, Meteor and a proposed new Rototuna service). This would significantly reduce operating costs.”

In other words, students would now need to navigate transfers at the busy central hub, relying on city buses to reach their schools – adding time, complexity and uncertainty to the daily trip.

Raglan Community Board Chair Dennis Amoore says the impact on teenagers and families hasn’t been thought through.

“You’re going to be spending [at least] an hour a day, morning and night, in a bus.”

The bus already takes over an hour and this proposal will only make the trip longer.

New internal loop proposed but service remains limited

The same plan proposes a new “Raglan Circulator” bus route, running every two hours between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week. The loop would connect  Manu Bay, Government Road and Rangitahi, with future expansion possible to Te Hutewai and Rakaunui.

“It’s probably going to be used by locals and backpackers… but visitors that come into town for the day are not going to use it, so the parking will still be an issue,” said Dennis

“When you go to Europe… you use the train all the time. They’ve got a pretty phenomenal infrastructure.”

Raglan gets less despite high bus usage

Despite having the busiest buses in rural Waikato and the lowest subsidy per passenger, Raglan is still waiting for the level of service other towns already receive, despite now paying the same $76.69 a year in rates. 

Local public transport advocate John Lawson said:

“We only get a quarter of the services of towns like Cambridge, Huntly and Te Awamutu, despite paying the same bus rate.”

He said Raglan won't reach even half their service levels until close to 2037 under the current draft plan.

John noted that Morrinsville, which had just 63,000 passenger trips compared to Raglan’s 94,000, is getting a major service boost; 30-minute peak services, evening buses until 9pm, and a town route, despite having far fewer passengers and a much higher subsidy ($12.85, rather than $5.20). He believes the Council is failing to account for Raglan's large visitor numbers and strong local support for low-carbon transport.

“They base the plans on permanent population, not tourist numbers. And Raglan’s people are more willing to use buses.”

John also said he didn’t know how they were going to fit the 90 passengers on the double decker onto existing single decker buses in Hamilton.

“Change now or pay later” for traffic and emissions

John warned that, as our population quadruples, unless buses improve, the region will face expensive congestion solutions like flyovers at Dinsdale and Frankton, and multi-storey carparks in Raglan.

“That $44 million [for road projects], plus the cost of flyovers and car parks – if spent on buses, bikes and walking would solve those problems for less, with better health and less carbon.”

Have your say before 13 July

Submissions are now open on the Waikato Regional Future buses which will shape services and funding from 2028 to 2037.