Can't find an answer to you question about Orbus services? You might find it here!
If you can't find an answer to your question below, feel free to get in touch with our customer services team.
If you have lost something on the bus, or had property damaged, contact us.
In Queenstown, the Orbus service is provided by Ritchies and you can contact them directly on 03 441 4471.
No. If you bought a paper ticket from your driver, your journey has been accounted for.
Please note that free bus transfers are not applicable to paper tickets.
Learn more about free bus transfers here.
There are certain things you can take and cannot take on the bus. Find out what you can take on the bus here.
Yes, you can definitely take a wheelchair on board our buses.
Find out more about accessibility on our buses here.
Buses run regularly from 6am, seven days a week (unless there is a public holiday), and most routes have return journeys.
Go to our journey planner to find the best journey for you based on your location.
You can use the free Transit app to plan your journey (available on iOS and Android devices) and also track your bus.
You can also track your bus here as well, whether on a desktop computer or on your mobile device.
The real-time information works on both the desktop and mobile versions of the website.
Yes, there is free Wi-Fi on all of the buses. When you are on board a bus, when connecting to a Wi-Fi network from a Wi-Fi enabled device (such as a smartphone), search for the ‘Orbus’ network.
If you have experience any Wi-Fi connection issues on a bus, let us know.
From 11:59pm 12 September 2022, mask rules will change and they will no longer be required on public transport. However the use of masks is still encouraged while you're on the bus to protect others and yourself.
The Orbus fleet has to be accessible to all passengers. The buses are used across all different routes and all times – buses are not dedicated to just one route.
That means the fleet needs to be consistent in size and standard to ensure no matter which route or time it is on, it can accommodate our diverse range of passengers.
Bee Card fares are cheaper than cash fares. You can find all our fares here.
There are also discounted fares (concessions) available for certain groups, such as youth, SuperGold card holders and Community Services card holders as well.
Children 4 and under are free, so they don't need a Bee Card until they turn 5. Just tell the driver your child is under 5 when boarding.
If you try to register your under 5 year old on www.beecard.co.nz when you register other family members, you will find that the Bee Card system won't recognise the age as it's free of charge in the system. The best thing to do is hold on to the card and give it to your child when they turn 5.
If your registered Bee Card is lost or stolen, you can log into your online Bee Card account and cancel your Bee Card. You can also cancel your card in person at one of our Otago Regional Council (ORC) customer service offices, and your balance can then be transferred to a new card.
In-person cancellations are the quickest if you need your card for travel within the next few days.
On the Bee Card website, simply select ‘order replacement’ after cancelling your registered Bee Card and your balance will be transferred to the new card once issued. You will need to pay for a replacement card. Balances cannot be transferred to cards that are not registered.
Alternatively, you can purchase a new Bee Card from your bus driver, the ORC customer service offices or a Bee Card retailer. Once you have your new card, give us a call, send us an email or come in and see us. We can transfer the balance for you.
If we identify a technical fault with your registered Bee Card, we can provide you with a free replacement card. You can then register the new card to your account and complete a balance transfer.
Unfortunately, you can't use the same email to create more than one account, but you can have up to 100 Bee Cards linked to the same account, so you can use a shared family email account.
Once you have created an account at www.beecard.co.nz select 'Register card to account' and enter the Bee Card number for each extra card.
Each Bee Card added defaults to the account holder name. To change these details, select 'Manage Card' then 'Edit Card Holder' and enter the name and DOB of whoever you want the card associated with.
You can also pop by our Dunedin or Queenstown offices and we can help link Bee Cards to your account for you.
No, but we highly recommend registering your Bee Card.
Registering your card online helps keep your card and balance safe, and makes it easier for you to manage.
With a registered Bee Card, you can:
- Top up online
- Set up Auto Top Up so you never have to worry about topping up again
- Protect your balance if your card is lost or stolen
- Manage more than one Bee Card with a linked account
- If you're eligible, you can load a concession onto the card (concessions such as SuperGold and Community Connect).
When you register your Bee Card use your New Zealand home address – it doesn't have to be an Otago address.
You do need a New Zealand address to register, but you don't need to wait to have a card sent to you. You can pick up a Bee Card in person at a Bee Card retailer.
If you don't have a fixed address at the moment, there are other options. Citizens Advice Bureau has some suggestions that could help.
If you need to take two buses as part of your commute, you may still only pay your minimum single trip fare.
When a Bee Card user changes buses as part of their commute, they can get a free transfer so long as they change buses within 45 minutes of tagging off the first bus and tagging onto the second bus (remember to tag off the second bus).
Yes, but we recommend that every passenger has their own Bee Card.
If you're travelling with a friend or family member who doesn't have a Bee Card, you can get them discounted travel with your own Bee Card.
To use your Bee Card to pay for another person:
- Tag on your own Bee Card, and then talk to the driver about using your card to pay for your friend/family member.
- The driver will give them a paper ticket where payment is made using your stored Bee Card credit. With a paper ticket, the person doesn't need to tag off (but you, as a Bee Card holder, will still need to tag off if you have tagged on already).
Note: Free bus transfers are not available with paper tickets. - The only available paper tickets for this type of transaction are for adult and child fares; it is not available for other concession fares.
If you forget to tag off, you will get charged a default fare, which is the flat cash fare.
Tagging off also ensures you won't be charged if you have changed buses within the free transfer window of 45 minutes from the last tag off.
Tagging on and off also gives us important data about where people travel helping us improve the Orbus network according to people's travel habits.
When a Bee Card user swipes their card as they enter – tagging on – the ticketing system recognises where they are travelling from.
When you as a Bee Card user tag off, it closes the loop and charges you for the journey.
Please always remember to tag off from your bus.
Please contact our customer service team for support if you think you've been overcharged for a journey.
Get in touch with our customer services team – call, email, message via socials, or pop in and see us.
If we identify a technical fault with your registered Bee Card, we can provide you with a free replacement card. You can then register the new card to your account and complete a balance transfer.
When you order cards via the Bee Card website, and apply a top up, the balance will remain at $0.00 until you have activated the card.
To do this, you need to activate the card on the website using the 3-digit security code on the back of the card. Once this is done, the balance will display as 'Pending' until tagged on a bus, when it will change to cash value balance.
Top ups only show immediately if your Bee Card has been placed on a Bee Card machine (such as on the bus top ups or at an Otago Regional Council customer service office).
All other top ups, including online top ups can take up to 12 hours to show on your card.
When available, it will display as a pending balance until the first time you tag on after the top up.
To see a pending balance:
- Go to beebard.co.nz
- Log into your account
- Select 'Manage Card' on the Bee Card you need to activate
This will then open the card details, with pending balance displayed.
Concession changes may take 30 minutes to pull through from time it is changed on the Bee Card website.
If the concession was loaded more than 30 minutes ago, check your Bee Card account and that the correct card has been updated.
If your registered Bee Card is lost or stolen, you can log into your online Bee Card account and cancel your Bee Card. You can also cancel your card in person at one of our Otago Regional Council (ORC) customer service offices, and your balance can then be transferred to a new card.
In-person cancellations are quickest if you need your card for travel within the next few days.
On the Bee Card website, simply select ‘order replacement’ after cancelling your registered Bee Card and your balance will be transferred to the new card once issued. You will need to pay for a replacement card. Balances cannot be transferred to cards that are not registered.
Alternatively, you can purchase a new Bee Card from your bus driver, the ORC customer service offices or a Bee Card retailer. Once you have your new card, give us a call, send us an email or come in and see us. We can transfer the balance for you.
If we identify a technical fault with your registered Bee Card, we can provide you with a free replacement card. You can then register the new card to your account and complete a balance transfer.
All refunds and re-imbursements will be applied at the discretion of the Otago Regional Council (ORC).
Refunds will be considered in the following circumstances:
- Genuine error with Bee Card top-up
- For a faulty card
- Extreme hardship
Faulty Card
A faulty card means a Bee Card that does not tag on or off or top up.
Hardship
In certain cases, at the discretion of the ORC, we may be able to provide a refund for circumstances of extreme hardship. Please note the following:
- You'll need to provide a registered Bee Card
- You must surrender your Bee Card to ORC
- Refunds can be an one-off occasion only for the same passenger
- An admin fee may be charged (at ORC's discretion).
If you forget your password to my Bee Card account, you can reset it by clicking 'Forget password?' on the login screen on the Bee Card website.
Our customer service team at the Otago Regional Council can reset your password for you over the phone or in person.
Once done, you will be sent an email prompt with the temporary password.
No, free transfers are not available between the bus and ferry services.
You must purchase separate fares to catch the ferry and the bus in Queenstown.
There are also no free transfers if you get off the ferry and get on another ferry later.
You will need to purchase a new fare each time you catch the ferry.
This means that when you tag off your bus and then tap on to your ferry, your Bee Card will be charged the full single fare for each one-way fare requested.
Adult travel fares apply during peak times for SuperGold card holders. Fare information can be found here.
Otherwise out of peak time (off-peak), travel is free of charge when you travel with a registered Bee Card with a SuperGold concession loaded onto it.
You must register your Bee Card with your SuperGold details to get your SuperGold concession.
Learn how to get a SuperGold concession
When you register your Bee Card use your New Zealand home address – it doesn't have to be an Otago address.
You do need a New Zealand address to register, but you don't need to wait to have a card sent to you. You can pick up a Bee Card in person at a Bee Card retailer.
If you don't have a fixed address at the moment, there are other options. Citizens Advice Bureau has some suggestions that could help.
Couldn't find an answer to a question that you have?
Contact our friendly Orbus team! They'll be able to help you.
Helpful info
How to catch the bus
Learn everything on how to use the Orbus public transport network, such as getting a travel Bee Card, planning your bus journey and more.
Fares
Find information on bus and ferry fares for adults, children, Community Service card holders and SuperGold card holders.
Fare concessions
Concessions can give discounted or free travel for children, youth, Community Service card holders, SuperGold card holders or people with impairment.
Bee Card
Learn everything about the Bee Card, such as why you should get one, how to get it and how to use it.
Accessibility
At Orbus, accessibility means making bus travel easy for everyone, in many different ways.
Contact us
Get in touch with our fantastic customer services team if you have any questions or feedback on our Orbus services.
