Otago Regional Council is advising Otago’s football fans to plan ahead and make use of the popular free buses when they head to Sunday’s big game as the city will be heaving.

It’s a full house at the stadium with more than 25,000 fans expected for Sunday evening’s match between New Zealand and Switzerland. Around 12,000 fans are expected to be arriving from outside Dunedin/Ōtepoti, which means the roads will be full.

“We’ve put on some extra buses, so there’ll be four buses running a continuous loop between the Octagon and Dunedin Stadium from two hours before the game starts, and the two hours after the final whistle,” says Manager Transport, Lorraine Cheyne.

“This includes the popular double decker bus.”

“We’re advising fans to hop on board early for free travel to make sure they make it to the game in plenty time for the 7pm kick-off. Remember to show your match tickets to the driver.”

“When leaving the game, fans are asked to check the destination the bus is going to as some passengers will want to go back to their park and rides, while others will want to go to the city centre,” added Ms Cheyne.

The buses are part of a suite of travel initiatives to help people get to the game safely and easily.

Also provided are free buses at from park-and-ride options in Victoria Road Carpark in St Kilda and at Peter Johnstone Park carpark in Mosgiel. The free buses will loop between these carparks and the Dunedin Stadium (Forth Street terminus) - two hours before kick-off and two hours after the match ends.

There are also additional services for outlying areas for the big match on Sunday, 30 July:

• Route 1: City to Palmerston – 9:30 pm

• Route 14: City to Port Chalmers – 9:31 pm

• Route 18: City to Portobello – 9:38 pm

• Route 77: City to Mosgiel – 9:42 pm

Fans travelling to the games on any ORC bus service must show their match tickets to the driver to get free travel - valid for the two hours before and after the match.

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