Horizons secures future of Ashhurst school bus services

Council voted today to fund high school bus services between Ashhurst and Palmerston North from mid-2026.
 
Horizons chair Nikki Riley says proposals to fund the services came to the last term of Council twice and were turned down each time. Both decisions came with a direction for discussions to continue between Horizons and the Ministry of Education to see if a solution could be found.
 
“The Ministry of Education has confirmed these high school bus services will be withdrawn without a transition arrangement in place. The new Council has decided we must take action so nearly 300 students can continue to access education,” says Cr Riley.
 
“This decision also makes sure the public transport services we run between Ashhurst and Palmerston North are not overwhelmed with more passengers than they can carry, and prevents significant congestion on our roads and disruption to people’s lives.”
 
Horizons provides public transport between Palmerston North and Ashhurst, but there is not enough capacity to carry an influx of students, says Cr Riley.
 
“Having public transport services between Ashhurst and Palmerston North makes funding these school services a unique situation, as we do not provide similar public transport in other areas where the Ministry of Education has decided to stop running school buses.
 
“The Ministry of Education will provide co-funding for the Ashhurst school services until June 2027. We hope we will be able to secure co-funding from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi from that point on.
 
“Funding these services involves Horizons contributing about $130,000 - $150,000 per year, which equates to about $3 per year in extra rates from each Palmerston North and Ashhurst urban property. Students will have to pay fares too, which will be capped in line with Horizons’ fare capping system at $10.40 per week from the start of 2026.”
 
Horizons Passenger Transport Committee chair and Palmerston North constituency councillor Jono Naylor says Horizons staff and affected parents in Ashhurst have worked hard to come up with other alternatives.
 
“We are now at the point where we either have to fund these services, or see them stop.
 
“We heard loud and clear at today’s meeting from Ashhurst residents, as well as Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith, that not continuing these services will have significant negative impacts on the Ashhurst community.
 
“It is not the fault of Ashhurst parents and children that their school buses are at risk. Council has decided to make it our responsibility to make sure that risk does not become reality.”
 
There is a lot of detail to work out between now and Horizons beginning to fund services, says Cr Naylor.
 
“This includes if all services will run between Ashhurst and Palmerston North high schools or if some students will have to transfer onto the city’s network, and how we will collect fares.

“We will work with affected parties, including high schools, to come up with a system which works for everyone.”