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OUSA and Airport Shuttles Dunedin’s student service has proven very successful this year. OUSA has seen over 4,500 students taking advantage of the cheaper fares between January and June 2014. OUSA President Ruby Sycamore-Smith said, “We’re astounded by the success of the shuttles and we’re rapt that it’s made travel much easier and affordable for students.”

“The trial run in 2013 gave us a good idea of what we needed to do to make it run successfully, and now we’ve worked to tweak it with Airport Shuttles Dunedin it’s just getting more and more popular,” Ruby said.

Transport to and from Dunedin Airport has been an expensive issue for students. The price for a shuttle is usually around $20 per trip, with discounts allocated for big groups. Wellington Airport has a bus with particular stops from the airport to the city for only $9, with a further 20 per cent discount for those with Snapper cards, the local ticketing card. In the past, the local shuttle services in Dunedin have offered student prices, but these discounts have not been permanent.

OUSA worked alongside Airport Shuttles Dunedin to ensure the student fares remained at $12 to the airport and $15 from the airport to the city. As expected, the service is used much more so over the mid-term and semester breaks, with approximately 1,000 students using the service for each break period.

Ruby attributes the success of the student shuttles to the business relationship OUSA formed with the company: “Because the OUSA sticks to its core business it gives us the freedom to facilitate commercial opportunities with trusted partners for the benefit of students without a conflict of interest due to our own activities.” Through directly advertising the low fares to students via OUSA, Airport Shuttles Dunedin has benefitted. Ruby also noted that these types of relationships between OUSA and local businesses are of huge benefit to both students and the community. She said, “It’s great that as we grow our networks we’re having the chance to work with some amazing Dunedin people; from small businesses to large organisations that are really having an impact on the services we can provide to our students.”

All tertiary students can use the OUSA online booking service at studentshuttles.co.nz'