Council’s Toyota Coaster bus is to be replaced with wheelchair-friendly smaller vehicle.

General Manager, David Webb said the bus was due for replacing due to its age and changing community needs.

Mr Webb said the bus was purchased in 2006 and has had minimal use for a vehicle of its age with around 130,000km of usage.

“It is in relatively good condition apart from a scrape on one side awaiting repair but is a year-by-year proposition,” he told Council in a report to the February meeting.

“As a community transport provider, you are expected to replace your vehicles every 15 years, however you can exceed this under low usage conditions such as ours.

“Currently the bus is used up to two days a week depending on demand and for special requests, usually for persons requiring wheelchair accessibility.

“Council is fortunate to have ample cash reserves to replace the bus. However, it can no longer buy a vehicle outright under the funding conditions.”

Council resolved to lease the replacement vehicle and has sought quotations for a modern small people mover with wheelchair accessibility that would provide five seats including the driver and a wheelchair, for a period of five years.

Mr Webb said vehicle options were very limited at the moment due to the availability of suitable vehicles that can be converted.

“The vehicle is much more manoeuvrable than the bus and has the added advantage that the driver does not require a light rigid licence,” he said.

“Currently, Council does not have a dedicated bus driver and has failed to fill this position after many attempts.

“One of the key issues in this case is to what level does Council wish to get into the community transport space, given that there is a current commercial service provider.

“Given the constraints in finding drivers and administrating the service, it is recommended that Council only service eligible clients during normal hours with the occasional trip outside of hours for those requiring wheelchair accessibility.

“That is of course providing the service can access a driver after hours which may not always be possible.

“It is not proposed to provide an alternative service to the current commercial operator.

“Given the comfort of the vehicle there would also be the potential to do out of town trips if there was sufficient demand and the service was feasible.”