The new bus service from Milldale to the Hibiscus Coast bus station has seen a huge increase in passengers over the last few months.

The 989 bus has been in operation since November 2022 and is fully electric.

Dave Hilson, Prinicipal Service Network Planner at Auckland Transport, says, “The new connection means that more people can get from Milldale to the bus station, then connect on other buses to get where they need to go, including the Silverdale shopping centre, Ōrewa, Whangaparāoa, North Shore and the City Centre.”

The bus operates every half hour, seven days a week, from 6am to 7.30pm.

When the bus service started in Milldale, there were 700 occupied houses.

Dave says one of the first passengers to use the 989 were three teenagers who climbed on board at about 6.45am on a Sunday morning, with their skateboards.

“We kept four people happy that day - the three youngsters, and a parent who didn’t have to get up early to take the boys to the skatepark!”

Bryan Radford from Zemtec, who built the e-bus, says the 989 bus operates 14-hour shifts, with 155-kilowatt hours of battery energy used, which comes from the national grid.

“The 989 bus travels 188km a day, and only uses between 70% and 75% battery consumption,” says Bryan.

Once the bus has finished its route, the battery is charged using a slow trickle charger, at 8pm, and it is fully charged by 5am.