Manawatū rural community transport

Manawatū rural community transport is hitting the road in 2023! Following our research in 2021 and a successful submission to Horizons’ Regional Public Transport Plan, our project has gained momentum and we’re working towards launching the service in July 2023.

335+

Manawatū residents need rural transport

68%

of survey respondents would use a rural community transport service

74%

of survey respondents support establishing a service in Manawatū district

Help us get this service on the road!

It’ll cost $100,000 to establish this service. This will cover:

  • Vehicle, trailer and IT equipment purchase
  • Website development
  • Service advertising
  • Legal & consultant fees
  • Licenses / permits

 The annual costs to run the service will be between $160,000-$175,000 per year.

We have successfully secure grant funding for some of the establishment costs, but the success of this service will also depend on support from our community. Therefore we’re seeking additional donations and sponsorships.

See below to make a donation or become a sponsor.

Make a donation

Deposits can also be made manually:

Manawatu District Neighbourhood Support

06-0629-00075114-001

Become a sponsor

We have sponsorship options available for local businesses or organisations who wish to support this initiative.

Email aly@nsm.org.nz to book your sponsorship.

Gold

$10,000
  • Your logo featured on the van for 10 years
  • Logo featured on website
  • Company profile featured on website
  • 1x exclusive marketing email to Neighbourhood Support Manawatu members
  • 1x custom partnership promotion activity suited to your brand
  • Only 3 available

Silver

$5,000
  • Your logo featured on the van for 5 years
  • Logo featured on website
  • Company profile featured in a newsletter to our members
  • Only 5 available

Bronze

$1000
  • Logo featured on website
  • Company profile featured in a newsletter to our members
  • Unlimited available

More about the service

  • 12-seater van with luggage trailer 
  • On-demand service for Manawatū District residents, Monday-Friday
  • Door-to-door service from anywhere in Manawatū to any location in Feilding
  • Up to 4 passengers travelling from a single pick-up address pay 1 fare!

Anything! There are no rules about what you can and can’t use the service for. Most of our survey respondents stated they would use it to attend medical / health appointments or go to the supermarket, pharmacy, other shopping, and cafes / eateries.

Prices are for a return trip based on the distance from the pick-up location to Feilding:

  • Up to 10km $10
  • 11-30km $25
  • 31km+ $30

73% of survey respondents stated that a rural community transport service would enable them to stay living rurally for longer.

Their reasons for needing a service included increasing age, loss of driving ability due to health, dependency on spouses or other household members for transport, isolation for children, maintaining independence, increasing petrol costs, no vehicle access and environmental considerations.

High costs of housing in town centres prevents many residents from relocating, while others simply stated a preference for rural living and a lack of desire to move.

We’re interested in collaborating with other community organisations and groups to ensure that use of our van is maximised for community benefit. This could be hiring the van for below-market rates outside of usual operating times, or securing a fixed time and day for travel, for a particular organisation or group’s members.

If your organisation or group has a need, we’d love to hear from you! Email aly@nsm.org.nz