Getting ready for the first day of school is not just limited to hundreds of Tauranga students this year, with Bay of Plenty Regional Council preparing to launch the Schoolhopper bus network.

The new service replaces many of the Ministry of Education's urban school buses in Tauranga after their withdrawal of some routes last year.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council replaces the Ministry of Education-funded school buses from term one. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

This means children will be charged $1.15 for concessionary travel and $1.60 for cash fares, but not until term two, with travel on Schoolhopper buses free during term one.

Bay of Plenty Regional Councillor and Passenger Transport Subcommittee chairman Lyall Thurston says it's nice to grow the Bayhopper bus network service currently being offered to the city's residents.

Lyall says: 'On the whole the students using the buses won't see much difference to what they may have experienced last year – they'll see the same buses and many routes will have the same drivers on them.

'But for us it's been an incredible opportunity to extend the service that we offer the city's residents.”

The Schoolhopper network is a dedicated school bus network only available to school students, and will operate during term time only.

It launches from Wednesday, January 28 for students attending Aquinas and Mount Maunganui Colleges, with all other routes starting the following week.

Students attending Mount Maunganui College in particular are being asked to recheck their route timetables before school starts, as some minor stop changes may be made to those previously listed on the Baybus website.

'As we've been doing our planning we've made a few minor changes to some routes and timings,” says Lyall, 'but they're largely the same. The first few weeks for us are now crucial to make sure we carry out the usual adjustments.”

A major change to the service will be the introduction of a fare from term two.

Lyall says: 'We realise this is probably the biggest change for families. Obviously we appreciate that for some it will be an added expense to their weekly budget, but we've tried to keep this as low as possible for term two.”

Student fares will continue to be payable from the start of term one on the normal urban Bayhopper buses, but the fare has been reduced to $1.15 for students using a Smartride Card and $1.60 for those paying by cash.

From term two these fares will also apply to Schoolhopper buses, from Monday to Friday during term time.

'We recognise that introducing the service means a fare needs to be charged to help us cover the costs of running it,” Lyall adds, 'but we hope that by offering the service free for term one this alleviates some of the financial pressure.”

The Schoolhopper network is funded through a mix of user pays (fares), Regional Council rates and NZ Transport Agency funding.

Schoolhopper services will be provided to urban Tauranga. Ministry of Education services will continue to be provided to our rural regions.

Full details of Ministry funded school transport services can be found at: www.schooltransport.org.nz, on individual school websites or by contacting the Ministry via: school.transport@minedu.govt.co.nz.